Sydney Commuters ‘Strongly’ Advised to Work From Home on Wednesday Due to 24-Hour Rail Strike

Commuters arrive at the closed Central Station during a planned industrial action by workers at Sydney and NSW Trains in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 21, 2022. All trains across Sydney and NSW have been cancelled. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Sydney Trains CEO Matt Longland strongly advises that Sydney residents “avoid all unnecessary travel” on Aug. 31 due to industrial action.

The action, led by the Rail, Tram, and Bus Union (RTBU), will be the final industrial action of the month after a series of strikes and disruption to commuters throughout all of August.

For 24-hours, Waratah and Millennium trains will not be in operation as the union protests to foreign-made trains.

“So a bit more than two-thirds of our trains won’t be operating tomorrow,” Longland told 2GB radio.

Sydney Trains has aimed to achieve 30-minute frequency for most train lines, except the T5 Cumberland and T7 Olympic lines.

Busses will not be able to completely replace trains, with strikes also affecting bus services.

New South Wales (NSW) Premier Dominic Perrottet noted that there was unity between the state government and opposition Labor Party for calling on the union to end strikes.

NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns previously told 2GB radio on Aug. 23 that he thought the industrial action should stop.

“Further strikes are just going to antagonise the public,” he said.

Minns added on Aug. 30 that while the union had “every right” to pursue its claims, it should be done “around the negotiating table rather than via strikes.”

No Deal

Throughout August, the NSW government and RBTU have repeatedly said that a deal was close to being finalised; however, further issues caused the deals to break down each time.

The union has argued that the new Korean-made intercity fleet of trains are unsafe to operate and is also negotiating for its new enterprise agreement, demanding a pay rise of at least 0.5 percent above the public sector wage cap for rail workers.

New South Wales (NSW) announced in June that public sector employees will get a three percent wage increase from July 1, with a potential further increase to 3.5 percent the next financial year for those who make a “substantial contribution.”

However, RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said the cap did not apply to rail workers because they were in the federal system.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said everything was on the table during negotiations.

“I negotiate with them in good faith while they negotiated with me in good faith,” he said. “But a lot of the good faith is pretty much drained.”

A letter from the government said it would agree to drop the requirement of modifying the new intercity fleet dependent on a new enterprise agreement being finalised if the action on Aug. 31 is abandoned.

But Classens said the letter was a stunt that did not add anything new to the negotiation.

He also called on the government to apologise to frontline workers for ministers describing the action as “holding the state to ransom.”

However, the statement, repeated by a number of senior ministers, including Perrottet, had been directed to the unions, not the workers.