Union leaders have warned of a possible total strike action if they could not reach an agreement with the government on modifications to the state’s new long-distance train fleet.
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The government accepted union calls on the fleet last week, agreeing changes to the trains worth $ 260 million.
However, the government has refused to sign a legal deed committing to the changes without a result on the broader business agreement covering thousands of workers.
Another affidavit to the industrial arbitrator of a senior Sydney Trains executive estimates that the ongoing cost to the railway operator risked reaching tens of millions of dollars.
The government’s move to stop industrial action could also cause two senior ministers to be called back from their holidays to the commission to testify.
NSW Union Deputy Secretary Thomas Costa said he hoped that both Transport Minister David Elliott and Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope should testify before the fair work.
“The unions would insist that Elliott and Tudehope provide evidence at these hearings about their intimate role in the negotiations,” he said.
“We are concerned that the government will no longer negotiate in good faith.”
A spokeswoman for the Tudehope office said the evidence will be provided by experts with the ability to explain how the impacts of industrial action arise.
“The Fair Work Commission is not a political scenario for unions to continue to ignore the resolution process and use the people of NSW as pawns to push their own agenda,” the spokeswoman said.
He confirmed that the minister will be out until mid-July.
NSW Railway, Tram and Bus Union Secretary Alex Claassens said the reasons behind the government’s decision to initiate legal proceedings were “incredibly false”.
“It’s a bit rich that the last person responsible for the only time trains have stopped this year, when the NSW government closed the rail network in February, gets up and says it wants to bother passengers. stop, ”he said.
NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet said the railway workers ’insistence on continuing industrial action after the government made concessions to union demands to modify the new intercity trains was proof that their strategies had political motivations.
“In my opinion, the RTBU’s response was purely political. Continuing industrial action demonstrates a lack of good faith, “he said Monday.
“We’ve done our best to the point that last week we agreed, based on the many discussions that have taken place, to modify the best trains that can be had in the world.”
Last Friday, passengers were trapped in crossfire between the two sides as they faced the worst disruption to the city’s public transport network since February, when the government shut down the entire rail system for 24 hours.
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