The NSW government’s legal effort to put an end to weeks of commuter chaos and prevent train drivers from going on strike was unsuccessful.
Following the Fair Work Commission’s interim ruling on Tuesday, thousands of rail workers will engage in industrial action on Wednesday.
The NSW government filed a lawsuit on Monday in an effort to end the demonstrations that for much of last week hampered the public transportation system.
The state’s requests for a short-term truce were refused on Tuesday, leaving negotiations with the Rail Tram and Bus Union unresolved over the weekend.
As commuters prepare for yet another day of interruption due to the damp and erratic weather conditions throughout the city, both sides will reconvene on Thursday for a thorough hearing.
The NSW government forewarned the panel that protests ran the potential of hurting the state’s economy and adding to the cost of the new metro line, which would be close to $250 million.
The decision to file a lawsuit with the Fair Work Commission was “not made lightly,” according to Premier Dominic Perrottet earlier this week.
After commuters were abandoned last week, he declared that the government would “do anything” to stop further network delays.
At the hearing, the RTBU decided to scale back the amount of anticipated industrial action this week by packing more personnel onto trains than originally anticipated.
Historically, railway operators had refused to run any foreign-built trains on Tuesday and Wednesday, which account for around 75% of the fleet.
Cleaners who exclusively work at their local Home Depot and drivers who don’t use the network to get from station to station are likely to engage in additional behaviors.
In an effort to placate the union, which maintains the trains are unsafe, the state administration this week committed to spending $264 million to make changes to the new intercity fleet constructed in Korea.
The RTVU has asked for a signed legal instrument and asserts that prior conciliatory efforts were countered by internal politics.
Government materials submitted to the panel cautioned that continuing industrial action would cause a considerable loss to the state’s economy.
The state predicted that additional delays would drive up the cost of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest rail line by $264 million, totaling close to $1 billion.
Since the RTBU has been battling to fix this train for six years, a specific document, a deed, was what was missing, according to union secretary Alex Claasens, who spoke to AAP.
Although he allowed that “the transport secretary’s choice to sign it is up to him,” he claimed that the union’s deed “really performs what we need it to do.”
Mr. Perrottet called RTBU’s rejection of the offer “extremely disappointing” and insisted that a deal needed to be reached as quickly as possible.
I want those trains on the tracks as soon as possible, and I’ll do everything I can to make that happen, I’ve indicated on multiple occasions, the man remarked.
Chris Minns, leader of the opposition, asserted that the union must represent the government’s good faith.
Millions of people attempting to go to and from work the following week cannot be forced to deal with the petty minutiae of a contract between the union and the government, Mr. Minns argued.
“We need to stop the strike, resolve the concerns that are plainly still outstanding, and come to a deal.”
Insisting there are no safety issues with the contentious fleet, Mr. Elliott has threatened to leave if he does not keep his pledges to the union.
He said to the ABC on Friday, “That is the horrible scenario that the union movement and the Labor Party have put us into.”
This week, Mr. Elliott said that the government had offered $3000 bonuses to railway workers, which the union had called “bribes,” to get them to go back to work.
Only 30% of Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink services were running on Friday, following a weekend schedule.
Since the whole rail system was shut down for a full day in February, it was the network’s most significant disruption to date.