Commuters urged not to take frustrations out on workers: RTBU

3 March 2020: Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Secretary, Alex Claassens statement on train derailment at Circular Quay:

The RTBU will be ensuring a thorough investigation is conducted into the cause of today’s derailment.

The safety of workers and commuters must always be paramount, and the RTBU will always do whatever it takes to ensure their safety is put first by government and management.

While we don’t yet know what exactly caused the derailment of what we believe was a maintenance vehicle, what we do know is that the incident is causing huge disruptions to people’s morning commute.

While we understand commuter frustrations entirely, and in fact share many of those frustrations, we’re urging commuters to try and keep their cool and show respect for workers during this difficult time.

It’s important to remember that we’re all in the same boat. Incidents like this are difficult for everyone.

We get it. Workers often have frustrations too, but it’s important not to take those frustrations out on those who are just trying to do their job.

We’d like to thank passengers for showing patience and respect for the workers during this difficult and frustrating time.

Transport workers want nothing more than to get commuters to work on time safely and efficiently. When things out of our control get in the way of that, regardless of the cause, it is frustrating for everyone.