A legal claim launched by the NSW Government has thwarted union plans to turn off Opal machines on September 21, which would have given Central Coast commuters an indefinite free ride.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RBTU) had planned to turn off the machines this week in protest over “the Government’s continued refusal to provide safe trains and fair working conditions”.
RBTU NSW Secretary, Alex Claassens, said the action had been designed to cause a headache for the Government and management, without impacting commuters.
He said it had been hoped the move would force the Government to reconsider “its current strategy of stalling negotiations”.
But on September 16, the Government lodged a section 418 application in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to have the action declared “unprotected”, following legal advice it had received that the action was prima facie unlawful.
“Sydney Trains and NSW Train Link believe the notified action is also unsafe and could cause financial impacts on commuters,” the Government said in a statement on September 17.
Claassens said the claim was “baseless” and aimed at distracting from the real issue at play.
“The government is … saying that RTBU members had not approved the taking of this type of action,” he said.
He said delegates had made the decision to cancel the action while the legal matter is ongoing.
“Because of this dirty trick, commuters will not be getting free travel from Wednesday,” he said.
“The RTBU NSW is fully committed to giving fare free travel to commuters and is now considering alternative ways that this can be achieved.
“Not only is the NSW Government denying commuters the opportunity to travel for free and put money back in the pockets of the people of NSW at a time when so many of us are doing it tough, but it is slogging those same people- the state’s taxpayers- with hefty lawyer fees as part of yet another legal case.”
Claassens said the Government seemed intent on “dragging the issue out for as long as possible” rather than “sitting down and trying to negotiate with the union on delivering safe trains and fair wages and conditions for workers”.
Terry Collins