Image: Transport for NSW/Facebook
An order from the Fair Work Commission on Thursday night has put a pause on the industrial action that was taking place on Sydney’s trains.
1900 services were cancelled on Wednesday, with another 1000 expected on Thursday as unions attempted to win a pay rise from the government.
At 6:30 last night, an urgent interim order declared that the 350 work bans put in place by the combined rail unions to be halted, eating into the last day of industrial action by the Rain, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU).
Although things aren’t quite back to normal, it will be easier to traverse Sydney on public transport over the weekend.
“The flow-on effects will be felt on the network today and over the coming days,” said a spokesperson for Transport for NSW.
“More than 50 temporary speed restrictions remain on the Sydney network due to a build up of missed critical maintenance during the industrial campaign.
“This period has also seen a sharp increase in network defects and maintenance backlog that will take significant time and resources to recover.”
Transport Minister Jo Haylen apologised for the delays over the past two days and said that the government were “looking at all our options” to potentially reimburse travellers caught up in the delays.
What’s in the Fair Work order?
Sydney and NSW Trains submitted an application with the Fair Work Commission to cancel planned industrial action using section 424 of the Fair Work Act.
This section relates to a treat to life, safety, welfare, or industrial action causing significant damage to the economy.
“You can’t run a public transport system in an international city like Sydney, where every morning you have to work out whether running a simple service from Hurstville to Bondi Junction trips up three, four or 10 different industrial bans,” said Premier Chris Minns, who has returned early from his summer break to handle the issue.
“We don’t know how many small businesses have been smashed because of 50 per cent of trains not running.”
An application must be determined within five days and if unable to do so, the commission has to issue an interim order until a resolution is reached.
President of the Fair Work Commission, Adam Hatcher SC said it was “not practicable” for the matter to be heard and decided before next Tuesday, and called for the commission to reconvene late next week, overseen by a full bench.
This means that while industrial action is on hold for the next five days, the commission could determine the action shouldn’t be terminated, and it could make a return.
The RTBU are imploring the government to stop the delays and come back to the bargaining table to resolve the issue.
“It’s been 45 days since the government last sat down with the Combined Rail Union, and instead of taking responsibility, they’ve chosen to play political games and shift blame,” the RTBU said.
“The unions will provide the NSW Government with a counteroffer for basic, reasonable demands: fair wages, safer conditions, and job security. These issues can be resolved quickly, but only if the government steps up.”
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