The stand-off between the State Government and unions over safety conditions on the rail network continues to escalate, with Central Coast commuters warned to be prepared for minor disruptions in the early hours next Thursday.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) says a four-hour stoppage has been planned from midnight until 4am on July 28 due to the Government’s “refusal to budge on key safety and workplace issues”.
RTBU NSW Secretary, Alex Claassens, said the Government refuses to sign a deed confirming it will make the safety changes required on the New Intercity Fleet and that the cost of doing so won’t come at the expense of workers’ wages and conditions.
“(This) has left workers with no choice but to take further action,” he said.
Claassens said that while the action is designed to make a point to management and the Government, it will stop trains during the early hours on Thursday, and potentially have a small impact in the hours before and after the action.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that we’re being forced to take protected industrial action yet again,” he said.
“This could have all been over a long time ago if the Government just did the right thing and fixed these unsafe trains.”
Claassens said the Government is attempting to compound two separate issues – the safety of the New Intercity Fleet and rail workers wages and conditions – in an attempt to win some sort of political game.
“It seems the NSW Government thinks that rail workers will eventually give up and just agree to put commuters at risk by allowing the New Intercity Fleet to run – that simply won’t happen” he said.
“Nor will we be bullied into accepting an inferior enterprise agreement in order to get safe trains on our network.
“Commuters and workers deserve safe trains, and rail workers deserve fair wages and conditions.”
The State Government said the latest action is a “tactic” to pressure the Government into agreeing to “exorbitant increases in wages and conditions equivalent to 16.5 per cent in the first year”.
“While the Government is currently assessing the impact of the strike, the RTBU have resolved that this type of action will continue to escalate in different ways until the NSW Government yields to their extreme wage claims,” a spokesperson said.
“The unions are refusing to accept a fair and reasonable package offered by the NSW Government that will ultimately result in more money in the pockets of their members.
“The latest claim from the rail unions comes on top of their previous demands, including $264M worth of modifications to the New Intercity Fleet (NIF) with the total cost to taxpayers likely to be much higher as the fleet sits unused.
“In the interests of providing certainty of service to the travelling public, the NSW Government has already put an offer to unions which included the alterations to the NIF and more than 70 other claims put forward by the rail unions.
“These offers have been put in writing and any suggestion otherwise is purely a delaying tactic by the unions to provide cover for further industrial action.”
Minister for Employee Relations, Damien Tudehope, said the dispute wasn’t about safety, but exorbitant pay demands, job protection, and the egos of union leaders.
“It’s not just commuters that are suffering, but also rail workers who are being deprived of a fair and reasonable wage increase,” he said.
He called on union leaders to come to the negotiating table once and for all to resolve the dispute in the best interest of rail workers and commuters.
Terry Collins
Train stuck Hornsby why??? almost an hour we all want to know please.