Rail, Tram and Bus Union national secretary Mark Diamond said union members were entitled to go “crazy” if the Prime Minister followed through on his threat.
“If you go to your company and ask for a raise, and their answer is, ‘We’re going to screw you up and cut your salary in half,’ what would you do? Wouldn’t it drive you crazy? You wouldn’t withdraw your work?” Diamond said.
RTBU National Secretary Mark Diamond speaks to NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet in Parliament on Thursday. Credit: Nick Bonyhady
“And that’s their legal right. That’s how the system works. And I hope that’s exactly what they’re going to do.”
Diamond said the union did not want that outcome, but claimed the prime minister was fueling the dispute to gain political advantage by tying the union to the ALP.
Although the Tram and Bus Union had promised “relative peace” for the next two weeks, forms of industrial action such as leaving ticket gates open at stations are still underway.
RTBU state secretary Alex Claassens indicated on Thursday that his union would probably not recommend workers endorse the government’s pay deal.
Labor Relations Minister Damien Tudehope has warned the union against industrial action. Credit: Oscar Colman
Claassens said the new business deal was “nowhere near ready” for members to vote on, and he could not rule out further industrial action in the coming weeks.
“I think we can absolutely guarantee that it won’t be recommended because it’s not finished,” he said.
“This is a government bent on exploiting commuters and rail workers as part of its desperate bid not to lose the 2023 election.”
The union notified the government on Wednesday afternoon of its intentions to extend plans for station staff to leave ticket offices open by a month from September 10.
A ban on staff cutting power to enable construction work on metro train lines would also be extended by a month, after the last actions expire on September 10.
Tudehope said that while new industrial action could not be the trigger to terminate an existing bargaining agreement, it would show that the union and government could no longer reach an agreement.
“I think I’m clarifying what [Perrottet] he said yesterday Industrial action in itself is not the trigger for the Fair Work Commission to end the existing EBA,” he said.
NSW Labor Treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey attended a meeting of union members on Thursday afternoon, prompting an immediate attack from Transport Minister David Elliott.
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“Mookhey is not even the shadow transport minister, so his presence today, and on previous occasions, is proof positive that this is a coordinated and deliberate campaign against the Perrottet government,” Elliott said.
Mookhey said he had accepted the RTBU’s open invitation on behalf of the NSW opposition to listen and speak to those involved in the dispute.
“I told them I thought Mr Perrottet seemed more interested in a fight than a solution,” he said.
“I promised that I would make his views clear to all my parliamentary colleagues, including members of the government.”
The government has for years been reluctant to accept any significant changes to the intercity fleet, which has been mothballed on the state’s central coast for years. Rail workers refuse to staff trains over safety concerns.
Earlier this year, the government backtracked and agreed to make $1 billion worth of modifications to the fleet on the condition that a new business deal could be reached.
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