Claassens admitted the four-hour stoppage would cause disruption during the morning rush hour, although the union had chosen the early hours of the action to reduce the impact on commuters. “There will always be a flow-on impact [on services]. There’s going to be some upheaval, no doubt,” he said.
The NSW government suffered an embarrassing defeat two weeks ago in its efforts to stop unions from taking industrial action on Sydney’s rail network.
The Fair Work Commission rejected the government’s proposal to suspend industrial action for 10 weeks, rejecting “inexplicable” claims it was hurting the state’s economy.
One of the intercity trains at the center of the standoff between rail unions and the NSW government. Credit: Tom Rabe
Since the Fair Work decision, the two sides have been unable to make a breakthrough despite union leaders meeting Tudehope and Ward and holding separate talks with the chief executives of Sydney Trains and NSW Trains.
The rail union wants the government to sign a deed guaranteeing it will modify the new intercity train fleet at a cost of $264 million to address safety concerns, before completing negotiations on a new pay deal. However, the government wants the changes to the train fleet and a new business deal to be completed together.
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The union argues that the cost of modifying the trains risks coming at the expense of workers’ wages and conditions if the two issues are addressed together.
However, Tudehope and Ward argue in their letter that “there is no trade-off” between wages and the government’s concession on the new intercity fleet modification.
“Given the substantial cost of the demands of the RTBU regarding modifications to the [intercity fleet]there is no conceivable way that they could be compensated by reducing workers’ pay and the suggestion that this has occurred is unfounded,” the ministers wrote in their letter on Monday night.
The new intercity fleet was due to enter service in 2019, but remains stuck on the state’s central coast as rail workers refuse to staff it over safety concerns. The government has estimated that the limited fleet is costing taxpayers $30 million a month.
The RTBU said rail workers were seeking annual pay rises of 3.5 percent over three years. However, the government has argued that union claims over pay and conditions would amount to 16.5 per cent in the first year.
The government has offered rail workers a one-off payment of $3,185 and a 3 percent pay rise in the first year, followed by 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent. It is in line with the government’s wage offer for public sector workers.
In a separate statement, Ward said he had been “very clear” that the government’s aim was to ensure unions stopped disrupting commuters’ daily lives. “It is time for the unions to stop playing games and work constructively with the government to finalize the enterprise agreement,” he said.
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