RTBU NSW statement: Fair Work Commission outcome

It’s incredibly disappointing that the NSW Government has allowed its dispute with the state’s rail workers to get to this point.

The Fair Work Commission today recommended a cooling off period until 1 July 2025.

It must be said that this move by the NSW Government sets a dangerous precedent. It has set an industrial agenda for aggressive employers, which should be a serious concern not just for rail workers, but for workers everywhere.

While we are hopeful that the NSW Government will see this result as reason to come back to the negotiating table, we are not confident.

Our fear is that the NSW Government has no intention of finalising this bargain, and the lack of industrial action, or the threat of it, will mean it will continue to sit on its hands rather than reach agreement with its rail workforce.

While the NSW Government will no doubt attempt to frame this as a win, it is clear there are no winners in this dispute – with of course the exception of the external legal firms being paid millions of taxpayer dollars to run illogical legal cases against the state’s workers.

Our rail workers – rail cleaners, guards, station staff, drivers and others working on the state’s rail network – all just want a fair agreement that acknowledges the hard work they do and helps keep commuters safe. Hopefully we can now move closer to that.

We are hopeful that the NSW Government will now heed the warning of the Fair Work Commission, stop whipping up unhelpful, untruthful and anti-worker rhetoric and sit back down at the negotiating table immediately – not wait until the last minute as has been in the case in the past.

There will be a time for analysing the NSW Government’s shockingly poor handling of this dispute, but for now our priority is to get the government to take the heat out of this dispute and get them to sit back around the negotiating table.