Fair Work Australia has stepped in and put a stop to any additional industrial action on the NSW train network tomorrow after two days of delays, cancellations and headaches for commuters.
A temporary order, effective from 6.30pm today, bans strike action until a determination is made on a state government application, filed by the Minns Government this morning, which will be handed down on Wednesday.
Industrial action was able to be suspended due to a Fair Work clause that says if the matter can’t be resolved in five days, an order can be made to protect the public.
It’s understood that the RTBU is drafting a counteroffer, with union bosses expected to come down from their demands of a 30 per cent pay rise over four years.
Earlier today, the T8 Southern & Airport Line, T1 North Shore and Western, T2 Leppington & Inner West and T3 Liverpool & Inner West are all experiencing delays spanning 30 minutes to 3.5 hours.
The T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line is also still experiencing delays of up to 20 minutes and also a number of cancellations.
The Blue Mountains, South Coast and Central Coast & Newcastle lines are also impacted and facing serious delays.
Earlier today, the NSW Government announced it has taken legal action against the combined rail unions, with the premier saying industrial actions had “put a noose” around the public transport system.
The ongoing pay dispute saw 1000 services cancelled yesterday and another 450 cancelled this morning, despite a pay deal being offered to the union members on Tuesday.
Minns said his government had done “everything they possibly can” to resolve the dispute, and it submitted an application to Fair Work today to end the industrial action.
“We don’t mind negotiating with the union if it didn’t mean that literally nearly every family in Sydney is affected by public transport outages,” Minns said.
“When the union says negotiation, what they really mean is they are going to continue to put a noose around the public transport system while demanding more and more money from the New South Wales government.”
“If the Fair Work Commission agrees with the government’s application, that is the end of protected industrial action on the railways in New South Wales and we go to an arbitrator decision… we don’t take that call lightly.”
Combined work bans and severe storms saw 50 per cent of all Sydney trains cancelled last night, Transport for NSW said.
Delays of two to six hours were recorded on several lines of the network during the chaos yesterday, with the same delays expected today.
The rail union implemented a “go slow” industrial action, limiting trains to a 23km/hr speed limit on lines where they traditionally travel up to 80km/hr.
Passengers were warned to brace for similar conditions today.
Transport for NSW yesterday warned of “lengthy delays, service cancellations, and very large service gaps” today, “due to newly notified and ongoing industrial action”.
“This will particularly impact the T1 North Shore and Western, T2 Leppington and Inner West, T3 Liverpool and Inner West, T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra, T8 Airport and South, Blue Mountains, South Coast, and the Central Coast and Newcastle lines,” the statement said.
“These impacts will also have a flow-on effect across the network.”
Buses will support train services on some lines, but this will be limited by availability and necessity.
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“Passengers are urged to delay non-essential travel, leave plenty of additional travel time, and plan ahead. Consider using alternative travel options where possible,” Transport for NSW said.
“You may need to change services and there may be increased crowding.”
The Rail, Tram, and Bus Union, and the CRU, said yesterday it expected industrial action to continue until tomorrow.
The government announced it had offered a 13 per cent pay rise over four years, along with a further one per cent super increase and another one per cent extra mutual gains bargaining agreement, for a total 15 per cent pay rise.
However, that is less than half of the 32 per cent pay rise the union wants along the same time frame.