The New South Wales government has claimed the cost of the city’s new metro rail line could blow out by hundreds of millions of dollars if the state’s rail workers are allowed to go ahead with this week’s planned industrial action.
On Monday the premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced that his government was filing action against the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) in the Fair Work Commission seeking to block the fresh round of industrial action.
The action would see bans on operating overseas built trains, which the government argues would cripple the state’s transport network.
In documents filed in the Fair Work Commission on Monday afternoon, the state’s crown solicitor argued the actions would increase the cost of the new Metro City and Southwest rail line by $246m because work planned for the school holidays could not be undertaken.
“These bans impact in the most most severe way on the construction of the Sydney metro line,” barrister Kylie Nomchong SC, for the government, told the FWC during a hearing on Monday.
It comes after the government last week announced, after a years-long fight with the union, it would concede to its demands for modifications to its intercity train fleet worth about $260m.
The union has so far refused to end the dispute, demanding the government agree to put its concessions in writing and saying it has yet to receive any confirmation from the government that the changes to the intercity fleet wouldn’t come at the expense of other conditions.
Nomchong told the FWC that negotiations between the government and the unions had reached their “nadir”, claiming the “critical and significant impacts” on the economy of the planned action were “uncalled for”.
“We have come to the point in time where the main core of the demands made by the unions have been met and therefore the ongoing industrial action … is absolutely uncalled for,” she said.
But RTBU barrister Lucy Saunders dismissed that, saying the unions “major claims have not been met” including over wages.
“Bargaining is not over just because the state government declares it is,” she said.
Saunders told the FWC that the union had only learned of the government’s intention to take legal action against it from the media on Monday, despite giving notice that it intended to take the action 10 days ago. She said the RTBU had not been served with documents until 2pm.
She said the government’s arguments about the effect on the economy of the bans was over-blown, pointing out that the same actions had occurred previously.
“When it’s happened five times already without the economy falling to its knees it’s not particularly persuasive,” she said.
Monday’s hearing was scheduled ahead of a separate hearing to decide whether the planned industrial action can go ahead – to take place either on Tuesday or later this week.
Ahead of a meeting with RTBU secretary, Alex Claassens, this week Perrottet had earlier on Monday accused the union of prolonging the dispute for political reasons, saying the union had “shown a lack of good faith”.
“We’ll be seeking orders to stop industrial action,” he said.
“The actions of the RTBU are incredibly disappointing. This has gone on for years. We have worked in good faith, we have been fair and reasonable in our response from the NSW government to resolve these issues.
“We have done everything we can, to the point where we agreed last week, on the basis of numerous discussions that have taken place, to have modifications take place on the best trains you could have anywhere in the world.
“We made that concession because I want to make sure those trains are on the track as quickly as possible. The response from the RTBU in my view is purely political to continue industrial action particularly this week as well when we know there are severe weather warnings right across our state.”
The decision to take the RTBU to the state’s industrial relations commission comes as the union plans more industrial action on Wednesday and Friday.
Train services were also severely disrupted last week amid the industrial dispute.
It would be the second time the government and the RTBU have found themselves in a court battle in six months, after the state’s rail network was spectacularly shut down in February after negotiations between the two parties broke down after a late night hearing.
The union said on Monday morning that it had yet to receive notice of a hearing with the IRC. It had instructed train drivers to sound their whistles across the network in anticipation of escalating industrial action later in the week.
“Train whistles stopped sounding about five years ago as a result of noise complaints, but we’re bringing them back today as part of ongoing protected industrial action,” Claassens said.
“It’s outrageous that we’re being forced to take action in order to get the NSW government to deliver on what should be a basic responsibility of government – providing a safe railway and fair working conditions for its workforce.”
