Visit the 
Visit the Meeting with the Premier
Dear Members,
Yesterday afternoon, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, called a last-minute meeting with the Rail Tram and Bus Union.
At this meeting the Premier stated that if our protected industrial action goes ahead on Monday, he will “rip up” any commitment he had made to fixing the safety issues on the New InterCity Fleet. This ultimatum was accompanied by a deadline to advise the government by this morning whether our Monday action will go ahead.
An emergency delegates meeting was held this morning where EA bargaining delegates made it clear: you can’t rip up an agreement that was just words at a press conference.
The Premier doesn’t get relief from actions or political brownie points for promises and platitudes.This is bargaining and it is transactional.
The only way November actions can come off is if the government does what we’ve been asking for for a long time: sign the NIF deed, commit to safety, and separate NIF and the safety modifications from the proposed Enterprise Agreement.
Alternatively, they can simply give commuters free fares for the duration of the action as has been the case for each and every action of our November calendar.
This government doesn’t care about the safety issues with the NIF, they don’t care about the safety of commuters, and they don’t care about workers. The Premier’s position on the deed is all about keeping public sector workers wages low and the government is using the NIF as a bargaining lever to add credibility to their state government wages cap.
The ball is in the government’s court. If they want relief from our actions, they need to meet our claims.
That’s bargaining – simple.
In Unity,
RTBU NSW
Issued & authorised by Alex Claassens, Secretary, Rail, Tram and Bus Union – NSW Branch
Level 4, 321 Pitt Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 92642511
nswho@rtbu-nsw.asn.au
www.rtbu-nsw.asn.au
18 November 2022