NSW's passenger-train system was shutdown today, after the latest chapter of an industrial dispute between the state government and rail union came to a head last night.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) planned to carry out low-level industrial actions on Monday, after two hearings before the Fair Work Commission at the weekend.
The government says the fact the trains aren't running is the union's fault, but the union is blaming the government.
RTBU state secretary Alex Claassens said an agreement for protected action was made at a hearing on Saturday, before Transport for NSW tried to prevent the plans at a second hearing on Sunday.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the union didn't "turn up" to the second hearing and that the government had to cancel services due to safety concerns.
This is what you need to know about the complicated dispute.
What the union says
Mr Claassens told media at Central Station today union members were not on strike and were ready and willing to work.
He accused the government of committing a "low and dastardly" act by framing the closure as a strike when, as he claimed, the planned industrial action would not have affected commuters.
During Saturday's hearing before the commission the union agreed to drop some of its planned measures including a ban on overtime work today, Mr Claassens said.
But then the government hauled the union back before the commission in attempt to stop any industrial action from going ahead.
The RTBU said it had lawyers at the meeting.
"Naturally enough we resisted that," Mr Claassens said. "We said we've got an agreement."
Mr Claassens said the shutdown was the result of a government "dummy spit", and that rail workers would never do anything to put the safety of commuters at risk.
"Any sort of other rhetoric they put out there is absolute rubbish," he said.
The RTBU says its dispute over the new agreement hinges on concerns about privatisation and worker safety.
What the government says
About the same time Mr Claassens was outlining the union's side of the story, a "furious" Transport Minister was unloading on the RTBU during a radio interview.
Mr Elliott said allegations the government had closed the network down to make a point was "bull" and "union spin", and accused the RTBU of "terrorist-like activity".
That the closure came on the same day as Australia's international borders opened to tourists, and the start of university classes, made Mr Elliott's blood boil.
He claimed the union had "deliberately misinterpreted" the agreement made on Saturday as part of a political ploy to damage the government.
"By doing so there was going to be no way for Sydney Trains to operate this morning," the minister said.
"As if a government would want to stop the rail network."
Mr Elliott had full confidence in Transport for NSW's decision to stop services as they had to decide whether "they could operate safely within the confines of what the union had offered up".
"You can't operate a rail network without a guarantee that there would be a safe way to operate," he said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said he was "very disappointed" by the outcome and also accused the union of launching a "co-ordinated attack" backed by the Labor Party.
"They even flagged it on the front page of the paper today ... they are not even hiding it," he said.
"The unions were intent on causing chaos."
Neither Mr Perrottet nor Mr Elliott would go into specifics on how the union's plans made the network "unsafe" to operate, but mentioned rostering issues.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also weighed in on the drama during a radio appearance of his own, saying "this is not how this should be done".
How does industrial action work?
The Fair Work Commission says industrial action includes performing work in a different manner to usual, or in a way that restricts or limits or delays the performance of work.
It can also include a ban on accepting work, refusal to attend work or employees being locked out of work by their employer.
Industrial action can either be protected, or unprotected.
For it to be protected, an organisation must apply to the Fair Work Commission for approval of protected action.
A secret ballot must first be held among members must to determine if action is supported by a majority of the workforce.
Protected industrial action can only be taken during negotiations on a proposed enterprise agreement, after the existing agreement has expired.
Under the Fair Work Act protected industrial action gives employees immunity from civil liability from state or territory law.
If industrial action is unprotected the Fair Work Commission can order it to be discontinued.
Contravening an order made by the FWC can result in penalties of up to $13,320 for an individual and $66,600 for a corporation.
What happens next?
We are still waiting to learn when trains will start running again.
The parties are back before the commission for a conciliation hearing which began at 9am, which is hoped will pave the way for services to resume.
Speaking just before 5pm, Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland revealed the unions and government were still at loggerheads.
"We are absolutely focused on resolving this," he said.
"We have been at the Fair Work Commission all day today, and we will work into the evening if that's required to look at what we can do to get trains running again tomorrow across Sydney."
While he said he did not want a repeat of today's complete shutdown, Mr Longland told people to "avoid rail travel if you can" tomorrow.
Both sides have warned it takes time to get the network back online.
Mr Perrottet said he wanted NSW's public servants to be the best paid in the country.
"My expectation is my ministers work with the unions to solve these issues," the Premier said.
