NSW Govt forces more rail industrial action: Trains to stop midnight till 4am next Thursday

Media release, 19 July, 2022: The NSW Government’s refusal to budge on key safety and workplace issues has forced rail workers to plan for further industrial action next week.

A four hour stoppage is now planned for Thursday 28 July, beginning at midnight and running till 4am.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Secretary, Alex Claassens said a stubborn refusal by the NSW Government to sign a deed confirming it will make the safety changes required on the New Intercity Fleet – and confirming that the cost of doing so won’t come at the expense of workers’ wages and conditions – has left workers with no choice but to take further action.

Mr Claassens said that while the action is designed to make a point to management and the NSW Government, the action will obviously stop trains during the early hours of 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,” Mr Claassens said. “This could have all been over a long time ago if the government just did the right thing and fixed these unsafe trains.

Mr Claassens said that the NSW Government is clearly 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. We’re the people on the frontline when disaster strikes – we know the stakes are far too high.

“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.

“This might be some sort of ideological game for some Ministers, but it’s not for rail workers. This is about keeping commuters safe and simply giving our essential rail workers the basic take-home pay and conditions they deserve.

“We are very keen to get the New Intercity Fleet on the tracks as soon as possible, but we can’t let allow that to happen until they’re safe.

“Our government Ministers might be happy to take the gamble with commuters’ safety, but rail workers aren’t.”

Rail workers are asking for 3.5% pay increase as part of current enterprise agreement negotiations.