Sydney trains industrial action to resume next week

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Train commuters. could be facing more headaches soon with more industrial action on the cards from mid next week. After a truce over the Christmas/New Year period, rail workers are restarting their campaign for a pay rise.

Transcript

00:00As industrial action by rail workers rolls into the new year, passengers' patience is

00:09wearing thin.

00:10They have to fix it quick because it's hard for us.

00:15It's always late and I'm late for work.

00:18Not everyone is sympathetic to the workers' plight.

00:21I think they're overdoing it.

00:22I think the public now are getting sick of it.

00:25It's not as if they're in the poorhouse.

00:28Others think the government isn't doing enough to reach a deal.

00:32The government needs to listen to them and give them what they want or at least come

00:35to an agreement.

00:36I understand their frustrations.

00:38Pay them more.

00:39The cost of living is going up.

00:40After calling off their threat to strike on New Year's Eve, the union says the festive

00:44season ceasefire is over.

00:46Unfortunately, since that ceasefire got called on Christmas Eve, we've heard nothing from

00:53neither Sydney Trains Transport for NSW or the state Labor government.

00:58The RTBU is set to begin a new round of industrial action mid-next week, just when more workers

01:04will be returning to the office.

01:06It insists it won't cause major disruption but could see some slower trips and have flow-on

01:11effects.

01:12As much as they're labelled as strikes, they certainly aren't.

01:17Meanwhile, Unions NSW has written to the government asking for former Sydney Trains CEO Howard

01:22Collins and senior transport executive Samantha Abidirah to be called in as circuit breakers

01:28to lead intensive meetings aimed at ending the standoff.

01:32The pair previously helped the former state government out of a jam in 2022 when they

01:36helped broker a deal over a stout about the new intercity train fleet.

01:40But the government says the best way to resolve this standoff is in the Fair Work Commission,

01:45where mediation is set to resume again on Friday.

01:48Business groups are continuing to count the economic cost.

01:52Businesses have had enough.

01:53They want this matter resolved as soon as possible.

01:56The whole dispute is costing Sydney and NSW millions of dollars.

02:01Transport for NSW says passengers should continue to plan ahead.

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