The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has shot down a peace offer from rail unions which would see them temporarily halt industrial action that is threatening Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in exchange for fare-free travel for passengers.
On Monday, Minns said he had previously “stupidly agreed” to demands for fare-free days twice during negotiations with rail unions in recent months, but that his concessions ultimately did not lead to progress.
As a result, he said there was now “a trust issue” between his government and the Rail Tram and Bus Union – the rail union spearheading the current pay dispute – about whether it would make good on its offer.
Minns also lashed the RTBU’s guarantee for New Year’s Eve services in exchange for fare–free travel as contradictory to rail unions’ pay demands (a 32% rise over four years). Minns said just a month of fare-free travel would cost the government more than $100m in lost revenue.
Labor’s rejection of the offer on Monday increased the gravity of a Fair Work Commission hearing on Tuesday. The hearing was due to determine the government’s application to suspend rolling industrial action over New Year’s on the grounds it would risk community safety and cause economic harm – estimated at $98m for 31 December alone.
Late on Monday, the RTBU told its members that several actions – including a kilometre restriction on the distance train crew could operate that gradually decreased – were being dropped over the new year period, in what was seen as an attempt to strengthen its defence at the hearing on Tuesday.
Earlier, Minns had said that “the stakes couldn’t be higher” going into the Fair Work hearing.
“We’re not trying to be bloody minded, and we believe we have been reasonable, but if I went back to the negotiating table today and agreed with the union’s demands, then I can promise you one thing: next year’s New Year’s will be on the table. So would the State of Origin, so would the grand final, so would Christmas, so would Easter.
“The pattern would repeat over and over again. At the end of the day, the government has to draw a line in the sand,” he said.
The RTBU offered the NSW government a peace deal on Sunday, offering to pause all action until 7 January if the government waived fares for Sydney commuters until an agreement was reached.
The Labor government and the union have been at loggerheads for months over a new enterprise agreement.
In a leaked memo to the government, the union set out its offer in response to the application.
“Although your application seems to be based on an erroneous understanding of the action that is organised [and] economic evidence consisting entirely of assumptions,” the leaked union offer reads.
“We nonetheless write to offer a way forward which would enable there to be minimal disruption on New Year’s Eve and over the festive period.”
The union’s NSW secretary, Toby Warnes, had said earlier on Monday morning that he had not heard from the government, as a spokesperson for Minns flagged that the offer would be rejected.
“This would cost millions of dollars that we don’t have,” the spokesperson said. “If we did do it, the people of NSW know that it has to be paid for by them in another way – it’s just not affordable.
“We will keep all legal options on the table to ensure this industrial action does not impact the holiday period.”
Combined unions representing 13,000 rail workers have refused to budge from their demands for an 8% pay rise per year.
Minns said the government would not provide it while it was denying nurses a similar claim. The NSW government’s starting offer to the rail unions had been a 9.5% pay rise over three years.
In its previous enterprise agreement the government had offered 11% across three years, including superannuation increases.
On Friday the NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, threatened to call off the world-famous New Year’s Eve fireworks event on Sydney Harbour, citing safety fears.
“I have grave concerns,” she told reporters. “I haven’t ruled out that I will recommend to the government that we cancel the fireworks.”
Hundreds of trains were cancelled at the weekend as a result of the union’s industrial action, although Warnes said track work had also contributed to delays.
“It is, of course, a convenient excuse for disruption that’s caused by regular maintenance work,” he told ABC News on Monday. “But we say to commuters that the government now has an offer on the table that would see absolute peace until 7 January.”
Warnes said he wanted commuters frustrated by the industrial action to bottle their anger to take to the 2027 election.
