MEDIA RELEASE: All action suspended as negotiations continue

Rail workers will postpone the current overtime ban and the 24-hour stoppage planned for Monday 29 January for six weeks, following a ruling from the Fair Work Commission.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Secretary, Alex Claassens, said it is disappointing the NSW Government has let it get to this point.

“Of course we will always adhere to Fair Work Commission rulings, but a much quicker resolution to this would be for the Transport Minister to simply come to the table with a fair and reasonable agreement for the workforce,” Mr Claassens said.

“Commuters and workers deserve a quick resolution to this. The Transport Minister can deliver that simply by coming to the table with a reasonable offer.

“Workers don’t want to be in this position. We just want to get back to doing what we do best – keeping our trains moving – but we can’t sit back and let our transport services and wages and conditions continue to be attacked.”

Overtime ban postponed from 6pm

The ban on workers working overtime, which started at 12.01am this morning, will continue until 6pm tonight.

“The impact the overtime ban is currently having on the system shows how reliant our system is on workers doing overtime.

“The Transport Minister has squeezed our transport system to the point where it is reliant on workers doing overtime simply to keep a normal timetable running.

“It beggars belief that a Transport Minister can run a rail system into the ground so much that normal services can’t continue if workers refuse to work overtime.”

“Workers are being forced to do too much with too little.”

Negotiations between the unions, the Government and Sydney and NSW Trains management are currently taking place.