RTBU update on Fair Work Commission hearings

Media release, 5 July 2022: The Fair Work Commission has today rejected the NSW Government’s attempt to halt the Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s protected industrial action planned for the coming days.

However, as a sign of good faith during the adverse weather conditions currently impacting the state, the union had yesterday already moved to ensure additional services could run on Wednesday and Friday. As a result, approximately 70 per cent of the fleet will be able to run on both Wednesday and Friday, meaning there will be very limited impact on commuter services at all.

“It’s great that the Fair Work Commission has sided with the union and agreed that our planned actions should continue, but the reality is we had already moved to ensure additional services would be available this week to assist during the current weather conditions,” Mr Claassens said.

“The planned actions will continue, but commuters are unlikely to notice any impact at all.

“One of the protected industrial actions that will continue between Wednesday and Friday is ban on transit officers issuing fines to people. With everything facing the people of NSW at the moment, rail workers have decided to put a stop to the NSW Government taking money from people in the form of fines on public transport.

“Throughout this whole dispute, we’ve always been as fair and reasonable as possible while still making it very clear to management and the NSW Government that we are serious about fighting for the safe railway commuters and workers deserve.

“We never want to inconvenience commuters. This whole dispute is to ensure commuters get the safe trains they deserve. However, the NSW Government’s continued political game playing means that we’ve been left with no choice.

“The NSW Government’s actions have been incredibly disappointing throughout this whole process. Rather than simply applying common sense and ensuring we can get safe trains on our tracks as quickly as possible, the government has chosen to waste taxpayer money by playing political games like dragging the union to the Fair Work Commission and backtracking on safety promises.

“The only people benefitting from the NSW Government’s attempts to force the union into the Fair Work Commission are the lawyers.”

Mr Claassens said a number of other protected industrial actions will still continue over the coming days, including a ban on transit officers issuing fines to people. A full Fair Work Commission hearing is expected on Thursday this week.