Sydney train strike: Anger as city left stranded with 210 workers on sick leave, 335 services cancelled

Commuters, business owners and service providers have been left angry and bewildered as the, ‘it’s not a train strike’ train strike caused another day of anguish for thousands trying to start their working week in Sydney.

More than 200 drivers and guards failed to report for work on Monday morning, leaving the rail system in a mess with the Minns Government and union bosses tossing barbs and trying to place blame on each other after a weekend court battle.

The latest industrial action once again left thousands standing on platforms with services either cancelled or delayed, and a knock-on effect expected to keep the city’s transport system to a near standstill for the entire day.

Other stations and transport hubs have been left deserted as workers stayed home to avoid another morning of disappointments and aggravation.

Rail, Train and Bus Union president Craig Turner has placed the blame solely on the Minns Government.

“They should have had it sorted by now. The rhetoric from the Minns Government is always we will take you to court,” Mr Turner said doing rounds of morning media interviews on Monday.

Authorities confirmed that at least 210 workers either called in sick or failed to report for their Monday shift and 335 services had been cancelled so far.

Confusion was the order of the morning as the Sydney Trains boss told travellers that more than 90 per cent of services were on time or as normal, but then government officials advised people to find alternative arrangements for transport if possible.

“Lines are holding up well at this stage, but again we may well see delays increase as the afternoon progresses,” Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said.

Transport Minister John Graham told the ABC that while services would be running to the timetable, there would still be some delays and cancellations and urged parents to find alternative travel options for children heading to and from school.

“Particularly for kids of school age, we’re encouraging parents to find a different way to get them to school to move them around the city; that’s to make sure that they do make it to their final destination,” Mr Graham said.

“We’re encouraging people to continue to check the apps and we’ll update regularly update after.”

One of the main sticking points for the latest rounds of action has been a one-off $4500 payment the union feels should be honoured by the current government.

RTBU secretary Toby Warnes told ABC Radio that he believed members should be entitled to the $4500 payment with a deal struck with the Government to end industrial action.

The union says the bonus was agreed to with the last coalition government, and the Minns Government should be obliged to honour it, however the government stated they felt the payment agreement is no longer valid, and talks broke down last Thursday.

Anger boiled on Friday after almost all Sydney’s trains were effected after a mass ‘go-slow’ was set in motion by the RTBU leading to a weekend of approaches by the Minns government to the Fair Work Commission to halt any more planned industrial action.

The commission dismissed the government’s argument on Sunday, saying there was no pattern of co-ordinated action even though a record number of employees called in sick or failed to report for their shifts.

“Industrial action negotiation has been going on for 10 months. The government view is it’s time to stop that industrial action (because of) the impact it’s having on commuters and businesses,” John Graham said on Sunday.

“This dispute over time has been about a range of things - at one point it was about running trains 24 hours a day, at another point it was about free fares, now it is about a $4500 sign-on bonus.

“We can’t afford bells and whistles here.”

The state opposition pounced on the fallout, saying the union’s expected industrial action — along with the Government’s excessive threats to withdraw pay for sub-par shift performance — would inconvenience Sydney train commuters.

“To both parties (the union and the Government): Are you in favour of the commuters of NSW or do you want to continue playing these games?” said the opposition’s industrial relations spokesman Damien Tudehope.

The union’s NSW secretary Toby Warnes said the Government’s losing track record at the commission indicates that workers have a right to be fairly compensated.

“This is really in the Government’s court to give commuters that certainty and not to use commuters as a football to further its industrial strategy,” he said at a press conference on Sunday.

Mr Warnes said the Government’s dismissive tone would further put workers offside and they would not show up to work on Monday.

The end-of-year $4500 bonus has become a sticking point after the former coalition government agreed to pay it to the union in 2022 to end protracted industrial actions.

“There’s no blank cheque. We can’t sign a blank cheque to settle this dispute. If we did, there’d be another demand and in six months’ time, we’d be back here again,” said Mr Graham.

But Mr Warnes took aim at the Government’s characterisation of the union’s bargaining tactics.

“This idea of us coming back with demands in six months is complete nonsense and I can tell people of NSW that we will not be coming back with new demands in six months,” he said.

Union officials initially pushed for a 32 per cent pay rise across four years, but the Government offered 15 per cent for the same period including a federally mandated superannuation increase.

The union later provided a counter-offer of about 20 per cent across three years, which it rescinded after legal action was launched.

The rail network typically transports about one million people a day, with commuters facing repeated disruptions as the 10-month long negotiations drag on.

with AAP.