In a dramatic escalation of the dispute,senior transport officials warned union leaders late on Thursday that they will trigger Fair Work Commission proceedings to terminate existing enterprise agreements if industrial action continues after “close of business” on Friday.
The NSW Government may take the transport union to the Fair Work Commission if the strike stoush isn’t solved.
The extraordinary threat was contained in a letter sent at 3pm on Thursday to rail unions,a day after Sydney’s transport network was crippled by major industrial action.
Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope said any industrial action after Friday would be used as “clear evidence” of the unions’ having no intention of entering into a new pay deal,and would be used to mount a case to terminate the existing enterprise agreement.
“[Industrial action] will be evidence relied upon by the government that the unions have no interest in getting that[new] enterprise agreement approved,” he said.
“And in those circumstances,the government will be left with an opportunity to commence proceedings for termination. We are not softening our approach.”
Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope has warned the union against industrial action.Oscar Colman
Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday declared the long-running negotiations between his government and the combined rail unions were over,saying he would no longer tolerate any industrial action.
Perrottet also warned he would seek to terminate the rail unions’ existing enterprise agreement and tear up its intercity fleet offer if the government’s new pay offer was not agreed to by the 13,000-strong workforce in coming weeks.
Rail,Tram and Bus Union national secretary Mark Diamond said that union members had a right to go “nuts” if the premier made his threat a reality.
“If you go to your employer and ask for a pay rise,and their response is ‘we’re going to screw you over and we’re going to halve your pay’,what would you do? Wouldn’t you go nuts? Wouldn’t you withdraw your labour?” Diamond said.
RTBU national secretary Mark Diamond speaks with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet in Parliament House on Thursday.Nick Bonyhady
“And that’s their legal right. That’s how the system works. And I expect that that’s exactly what they’ll do.“
Diamond said the union did not want that outcome,but claimed the premier was fuelling the dispute to extract a political advantage by linking the union to the ALP.
While the Rail Tram and Bus Union had promised “relative peace” for the next two weeks,it still has in place forms of industrial action such as leaving ticket gates open at stations.
RTBU state secretary Alex Claassens indicated on Thursday that his union would likely not recommend workers endorse the government’s pay deal.
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott criticised NSW Labor treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey for attending a rail union meeting.Stephen Siewert
Claassens said the new enterprise agreement was “nowhere near ready” for members to vote on,and he could not rule out further industrial action over coming weeks.
“I think we can absolutely guarantee that it will not be recommended because it’s not finished,” he said.
“This is a government hell-bent on exploiting commuters and rail workers as part of its desperate bid not to lose the 2023 election.”
The union notified the government late on Wednesday of its intentions to extend by a month from September 10 plans for station staff to leave ticket gates open.
A ban on staff switching off power to enable construction work on metro train lines would also be extended by a month,after the latest actions are due to expire on September 10.
Tudehope said that while further industrial action could not be the trigger to terminate an existing bargaining agreement,it would prove that union and government were no longer able to reach any deal.
“I think I am giving clarity to what[Perrottet] said yesterday. Industrial action in and of itself is not the trigger for the Fair Work Commission to terminate the existing EBA,” he said.
NSW Labor treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey attended a meeting between union members on Thursday afternoon,sparking an immediate attack from Transport Minister David Elliott.
“Mookhey isn’t even the shadow transport minister so his presence today,and on previous occasions,is proof positive that this is a coordinated and deliberate campaign against the Perrottet government,” Elliott said.
Mookhey said he had accepted the RTBU’s open invitation on behalf of the NSW opposition to listen and speak with those involved in the dispute.
“I told them that I thought Mr Perrottet seems more interested in a fight than a fix,” he said.
“I promised that I would make their views clear to all my parliamentary colleagues,including members of the government.”
The government for years resisted agreeing to any significant modifications to the intercity fleet,which has remained in mothballs on the state’s central coast for years. Rail workers are refusing to staff the trains due to safety concerns.
The government earlier this year backed down and agreed to make $1 billion worth of modifications to the fleet under the proviso that a new enterprise agreement could be struck.
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