00:00All stations to nowhere. Getting to and from Parramatta was a nightmare.
00:09The train that I was supposed to catch earlier has been cancelled.
00:13I normally get trains that go every half an hour from my station but they were going every hour.
00:16It is pretty frustrating, yeah.
00:19Those with a plane to catch queued in the rain before cramming onto replacement buses.
00:24Because of the delay I've missed my flight and I've had to book another one this afternoon.
00:28On the South Coast line there were no services at all.
00:32The alternative was slow going with the main road between Sydney and Wollongong clogged following a fatal crash.
00:39I always was against driverless trains but I'm starting to re-evaluate my position.
00:44Commuters have once again become casualties of an industrial relations war.
00:49Paid negotiations broke down late last night and this morning 350 train drivers and guards were no-shows.
00:57Around a quarter of our services have been cancelled so far today.
01:01This is the sticking point, clause 11.6 of the last Enterprise Agreement,
01:06which says employees get a one-off payment of $4,500.
01:10The so-called sign-on bonus costs $60 million and the rail unions claim it's entrenched.
01:17You can't just delete parts of the Enterprise Agreement willy-nilly.
01:20The government view is this was a one-off payment for that agreement, not part of this offer.
01:27A view shared by the Coalition Minister who negotiated the last agreement.
01:31If the RCBU was at a Roman orgy they would have complained about the grapes.
01:36These guys would stop at nothing to get something extra.
01:40I do want to say that I think the union is gaslighting Sydney.
01:45Adding insult to injury, a union delegate sent this text message to his fellow members last night.
01:50Let's f*** the network up.
01:52The most abhorrent piece of union vandalism I've ever seen.
01:56I acknowledge that the messaging in that message wouldn't provide people with comfort.
02:01This afternoon the Fair Work Commission recommended the rail, tram and bus union withdraw all industrial activity,
02:07including the so-called go-slows.
02:10Tomorrow the parties are back before the tribunal where the government will argue the mass absences amount to unprotected action.
02:17If convinced, the tribunal must order the union to stop the activity.
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