Sydney rail strike: NSW government knocks back ‘peace deal’, saying they can’t trust union to keep their word

The NSW Government has resoundingly rejected a late-night conditional offer from rail workers to halt industrial action that threatens to derail festive plans, including Sydney’s iconic New Year’s Eve fireworks.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said it had issued a “peace deal” to the Minns Government on Sunday night to immediately cease its planned industrial action until January 7, if the government returns to the negotiating table to settle a long-running pay dispute.

The union also said it would stop its strikes if the government offered free fares to commuters and dropped its legal case against them at the Fair Work Commission.

RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes said on Monday the union hoped the government would “sit down like adults and discuss how we can reach a sensible resolution” and meet their demands for a 32 per cent pay increase over the next four years.

But Premier Chris Minns knocked back the proposal saying, in no uncertain terms, the government did not trust the union would uphold its end of the “eleventh-hour” demands.

Mr Minns said he had “stupidly” agreed to allow fare-free periods twice in the past six months in an effort to resolve the roiling dispute, but the unions had refused to budge and continued to strike.

“The government has to draw a line in the sand,” Mr Minns said on Monday.

“Some people have said given the stakes and given the seriousness of it why don’t we go back to the negotiating table and effectively give the union what they want. My argument to that is they will pull the same stunt over and over again.

“Next New Years will be on the chopping block, so will Christmas, so will State of Origin, so will the grand final. Every time we have a dispute with the union, they will pull on a stunt right at a crucial period for the city and we’ll be over the barrel with the demand to meet their demands.”

The RTBU’s latest offer demanded the rail network run fare-free until the government accepted the unions’ full demands — chief among them, an 8 per cent, per year pay rise. It is a $100 million per month cost the government and taxpaying commuters “can’t afford”, Mr Minns said.

“What it would mean under those circumstances is a massive increase in the amount of fares that are charged to NSW commuters... something in the order of 17 per cent a year, each year, for four years,” he added.

“I think this is a bit of a game, but the game, unfortunately, is at the expense of the people of Sydney.”

Transport Minister Jo Haylen reiterated the call for the union to immediately cease action, lashing union members for playing “childish games” with the people of Sydney.

“It seems to me like a stunt, and the passengers and businesses that need these public transport services right now are the victims,” she said.

“It’s just not a fair ask on the people of NSW or the taxpayers. ... There is no magic Christmas pudding here to pay for the unions demands.”

The Fair Work Commission will decide on Christmas Eve whether the industrial action is to be suspended or terminated after the NSW government lodged an application on the grounds of safety and economic harm..

Large hospitality and entertainment groups — including Laundy Hotels, Merivale, Ryan’s Hotel Group and Luna Park — joined the application, outlining the hurt caused to their businesses.

Mr Minns said while he would not speculate on Fair Work’s impending ruling, “nothing is off the table” to keep commuters safe amid the strike — including cancelling Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks.

“That’s an extreme position, that’s not a recommendation I want to make, that’s one the Transport Minister and the Police Minister and Police Commissioner don’t want to make as well,” he said.

“But the alternative is ... that we could have a situation where there’s panic in the city, there could be massive crowd problems and we basically need it to work perfectly on New Year’s Eve in order for people to have a safe and fun time.”

Ms Haylen said the city needs to run 3600 services across to provide a continuous service for millions of commuters across a 48 hour period on New Year’s Eve.

“No level of industrial action is tolerable to not only get people where they need to go but to do that safely,” she said.

The RTBU has rejected the claims of cancelling the fireworks as a stunt, and insisted the strikes would cause “extremely minimal disruption, not the catastrophe that’s being espoused in the media”.

Mr Minns acknowledged the “massive reputational damage” that cancelling the NYE fireworks could do to Sydney, but he believed agreeing to the union’s demands “would be inviting more industrial chaos... all the way into the future”.

Sydney commuters felt a taste of the potential all-out train chaos with mass delays and cancellations over the weekend as the workers ramped up their industrial action amid a roiling pay dispute with the NSW government.

According to the Daily Telegraph, almost 600 Sydney rail services were cancelled on Saturday with more than 50 per cent being either late or cancelled. The Intercity network also saw trains running at 48 per cent.

Mr Warnes rejected claims those disruptions were due solely to the strike — he said the workers’ action was being used as a “convenient excuse” when 80 per cent of the disruptions were due to “scheduled track work”.

With the union and state government at an impasse, there have been calls for the Federal Government to get involved in the dispute, given the RTBU falls under federal jurisdiction.

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he supported Minns government’s action and urged the RTBU to “be responsible” and apply “common sense” during an important holiday period for Australians.

“They need to understand that they will lose public support if they engage in activity that disrupts the public during a time like this, over Christmas and over New Year’s.”