Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens said the union leadership was prepared to meet management on Thursday to talk about ways to ensure trains could operate during a planned six-hour stoppage in Sydney’s south-west on August 17.
The union leadership is also due to meet Transport Minister David Elliott and Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope late on Thursday.
Bondi Junction station on Saturday. Credit:Rhett Wyman
Claassens cast doubt on the chance of a breakthrough at the talks, saying they had “gone backwards” every time they had met with Tudehope, and he reiterated the union’s call for Premier Dominic Perrottet to intervene to resolve the dispute.
Tudehope hit back by accusing the union of a “campaign of misinformation” and called on Claassens to engage with the government so that a new enterprise agreement could be put to a vote of the union’s members.
“It’s about time that members had a look at the quality of their leadership because we want to put money in the pockets of ordinary members of the rail union, and it is this leadership that is standing in their way,” he said.
While the workers’ stoppage ended at 4pm on Wednesday, Sydney Trains advised commuters to allow plenty of extra time while train services gradually return to normal. The timetable was expected to be fully operational by about 8pm.
Platforms at Bondi Junction station were deserted shortly after 9am on Wednesday.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Unless a deal between the government and the unions can be reached, commuters face major disruptions on the T3 Bankstown, T8 Airport and South, and the Southern Highlands lines on August 17 when another six-hour stoppage by workers is due to occur.
The following week – on August 23 – stoppages will disrupt the T1 North Shore and Western and the T9 Northern lines, as well as both the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast and Newcastle lines.
It will be followed on August 25 by stoppages on the City Circle line, and culminate in a refusal by rail workers to operate foreign-built trains on August 31. Foreign-built trains make up about three-quarters of the state’s rail fleet.
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The resumption of major protected industrial action on Wednesday follows weeks of disruption to the rail network in June and early last month.
The NSW government suffered an embarrassing defeat early last month in its efforts to stop unions from taking industrial action across Sydney’s rail network.
On July 9, the Fair Work Commission dismissed the government’s bid to suspend industrial action for 10 weeks, rejecting “inexplicable” claims that it was harming the state’s economy.
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