00:00One in four train services have been cancelled.
00:05This comes after more than 350 train drivers and guards failed to shop for work.
00:11Although the delays are widespread, authorities say the T2 and T8 lines are especially impacted.
00:19Indeed, people travelling to the airport are urged to consider alternative modes of transport.
00:25While Sydney Trains has put on some coaches to replace those services, there are only
00:30a limited number of buses and passengers have told the ABC they've been waiting more than
00:35an hour for a bus to the airport and are risking missing their flights.
00:39Authorities expect the disruption to only get worse this afternoon.
00:42At the moment we've had around 465 services cancelled.
00:48My sense is that that number will increase into the afternoon.
00:53Unfortunately, Valentine's Day today, people will be out and about in the city and around
00:57Sydney this evening.
00:59My advice would be to avoid the rail network if you need to get to a dinner date.
01:04Let's turn to the cause of the disruption then.
01:07Why did the talks between the rail union and government break down?
01:12Well it comes down to a $4,500 one-off bonus payment that was in the last agreement.
01:19The union claims that this was entrenched in all future agreements and that the government
01:23had said nothing about removing it until the issue arose last night.
01:27The government disputes that, saying it interpreted the words one-off literally and assumed that
01:33it would only apply to the last agreement.
01:36This appears to have been confirmed by the former Transport Minister, David Elliott,
01:40who negotiated that agreement.
01:42He's come out today saying that he understood it to be only a one-off payment.
01:47The government says paying every rail employee an extra $4,500 would amount to $60 million,
01:55which the government hadn't budgeted for.
01:58The rail union says the government should have told them if they were planning to remove
02:02that payment.
02:03Take a listen.
02:05And when you put something into the enterprise agreement, it becomes subject of future bargaining
02:09and can only be taken out as a bargaining claim.
02:12So to hear what we've heard this morning about the government saying we came along
02:17at the last minute and said we want an extra $4,500 is completely disingenuous.
02:23I do want to say that I think the union is gaslighting Sydney.
02:28I think what they're saying to the public and what they're saying to the government
02:32and what they're saying to the courts is clearly very different to what they're saying to their
02:36own members.
02:38Just finally, Alex, a text message from a union delegate that was sent overnight has
02:44sparked condemnation.
02:45What did it say?
02:46Yes, well, it was from a convener at the RTBU who told his fellow members that if they could
02:54afford to take a hit to their pay tomorrow, that they did not have to show up for work.
02:59And it went on to say, let's F the network up.
03:02The language has sparked criticism from the government and also the opposition, which
03:06has described it as an abhorrent piece of union vandalism.
03:11The RTBU has distanced itself from the text message, saying that it wasn't sanctioned
03:16by union bosses and that they acknowledged the message wouldn't provide the public comfort.
03:21But it did say that such attitudes were unsurprising, given how poorly members have been treated
03:27by the government over the past nine months, Lorna.
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