The government’s attempt to block the industrial action following days of public transport chaos has been denied in court and the decision could open the door for more strikes in the coming days.
The commission today ruled train staff calling in sick and skipping shifts was not unlawful as the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RBTU) fights the Minns government for a pay increase.
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland warned more delays are expected tomorrow and commuters have been told to brace for an “unpredictable” rail network across the city.
“We will continue to see unpredictable delays and cancellations day by day, depending on the amount of train crew absent,” Longland said.
“Plan ahead, think about other modes of transport if you do need to travel throughout Sydney on Monday.”
Longland said around 500 services were delayed or cancelled yesterday, an improvement on Friday’s mass cancellations, and around 260 train crew members are off duty today.
NSW Transport Minister John Graham said the government will again file an application with the commission on Wednesday.
Negotiations between the RBTU and NSW government broke down over a demand for a $4500 sign-on bonus for every rail worker.
“We can’t sign a blank cheque to settle this dispute,” Graham said.
“We need to settle this fairly, the government will work to protect consumers, we are prepared to go back to the commission do that.”
Graham said the government was working towards resolving the industrial action by Wednesday.
NSW Secretary of Transport Josh Murray apologised to Sydneysiders after the network grinded to a halt on Friday.
He said there could be no guarantees tomorrow won’t be a similar situation.
“We’d like to apologise to commuters across Sydney,” Murray said.
“Sunday nights can be tough enough, without thinking about the uncertainty about how you’re going to get to work and how long it’s going to take.”
RBTU rejects claims delays, cancellations are union’s fault
NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RBTU) state secretary Toby Warnes responded to Graham, Longland and Murray’s press conference and denied the union was to blame for any upcoming rail chaos.
Warnes said the union welcomed the outcome of the commission’s hearing today but said negotiations with the government remained up in the air.
“We want to state again that the disruptions the commuters are seeing is due to a government lockout of 5000 train crew workers,” Warnes said.
“Any impression the government is giving that it is RBTU causing this industrial action… is completely false.”
Warnes claimed the lockouts are in place until next Wednesday.
How much train drivers are paid across Australia
A worker issued such a notice who comes to work but takes part in industrial action such as a “go-slow” day – driving trains lower than the speed limit – can lose their whole day’s pay.
“Our members have been worried about having to come into work and having to work for free because the government claimed they engaged in a go slow,” Warnes said.
“The idea that this isn’t a lock out.. That this is somehow being generated by the RBTU is complete nonsense.”
Warnes again said any disruption to the network next week would be “caused by the government”.
“People will not notice the impact of the go-slows,” he added.
“We’ve had them before, commuters have not been impacted.”
“This is going to come as cold comfort to commuters, but we don’t know [if] these 5000 lockout notices [will] stay in place,” Warnes told Weekend Today earlier.
“The nature of these lockout notices say that if you do come to work and you are found to be going slow, which is our original ban, you will lose an entire day’s pay.
“So our members are in a really hard position at the moment, choosing between potentially working for free for a day or not coming to work at all.”
Warnes added: “And we saw on Friday 600 people made the latter choice.”
Commuters on Friday faced a nightmare journey home after 90 per cent of train services were cancelled following half the rostered train drivers and guards not turning up for work.
More than 570 drivers did not show up for work that day, causing mass cancellations across the network and plunging the public transport system into chaos.
The T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line was the worst affected with virtually no trains running on the line.
