00:00Well, there's been around 200 drivers and guards that are not at work today.
00:07That's a significantly lower number than was the case of absenteeism on Friday, which was
00:12more than 700 absences, and that saw the rail network really struggle with mass cancellations
00:17and delays.
00:18However, today, about 93 percent of services have run on time.
00:22There has been some disruption on the Hunter line, as well as parts of the suburban network,
00:27but by and large, it's been much smoother sailing.
00:30However, where there have been certain delays, commuters have been feeling the pinch.
00:34We spoke to some at Parramatta station.
00:36So, I live in Liverpool as of now, and I have to get to my work.
00:41I work as a barista, and it took me about two hours to get here.
00:47It actually took me about 45 minutes to wait for the train, and then, again, like, train
00:52got delayed and just stopped in nowhere, in the middle of nowhere.
00:57So, yeah, it took me quite some time.
00:59I was supposed to catch the 716 from Quakers Hill.
01:02That train was cancelled.
01:03Then I got another train that was coming after that.
01:07It was supposed to come at 7.22.
01:08It was delayed by three minutes, and by the time I landed up at Blacktown, I missed my
01:13connecting train from there.
01:15Then I got another train.
01:16I landed up at Parramatta.
01:18I missed my bus.
01:20So now I have to wait for 10 minutes more over here.
01:22The bigger and perhaps burning question at this point, though, is will we see more disruption
01:27in the future?
01:28It seems the clearest answer we'll get on that is by Wednesday, when the Fair Work Commission
01:33considers an appeal lodged by the government, which will determine whether or not the rail,
01:38tram and bus union can continue on with their protected industrial action.
01:42Now, that industrial action largely involves trains travelling at slower speeds.
01:47Instead of travelling at their top speed of 83 kilometres an hour, they can only travel
01:52at 60, or at least that's the tactic the union is using to enforce a point to the government
01:57around protected industrial action and the remuneration they want to see.
02:01However, the unions also made the point that they believe they're close to a deal, and
02:05in reality, they just need a bit more goodwill from the government to get a deal done.
02:10I'd say to the commuters, and look, as a union, we promote commuters to travel on the trains.
02:17There's two parties to this.
02:19The government really hasn't come to the party, so, you know, you just can't blame the union
02:24for everything.
02:25The government should get this sorted.
02:27The CEO of Sydney Trains, Matt Longland, says the focus right now for transport authorities
02:32is getting through the next couple of days of protected industrial action, hoping that
02:36the outcomes are similar to today, minimal disruption and, by and large, the network
02:41operating as per usual.
02:44We did have some hope of a deal being struck in the near future, though.
02:48We've been bargaining in good faith for around nine months now.
02:52We had a really positive series of meetings last week with union leaders across the five
02:57unions that we work with.
02:59We were very close to closing a deal on Thursday.
03:02Unfortunately, there were some last-minute issues, and we haven't yet agreed to terms
03:07with the unions.
03:08We're hopeful that further discussions will progress this week and we'll be in a more
03:11positive position, but the priority right now is to manage this ongoing industrial action.
03:16Interestingly, New South Wales Transport Minister John Graham is less hopeful of a deal being
03:21imminent.
03:22He's flagged there could be potential challenges with other elements of negotiation and has
03:27pointed out that at several points where deals were close to being struck, there were stumbling
03:32blocks that emerged between both the union and government.
03:35As a result, the government really chancing its arm on Wednesday, hoping for an outcome
03:40where it says the union can no longer take action for the next six months and is forced
03:44into conciliation.
03:46That determination will be a crucial one on Wednesday.
03:49In the meantime, it is worth noting the delays on Friday that the government blamed on a
03:53coordinated effort by the rail unions to dissuade people from coming to work was actually dismissed
03:59by the Fair Work Commission.
04:01They say overall it was not a coordinated effort by the rail, tram and bus union and
04:05found in their favour.
04:07For now, it appears as though the commute home this afternoon should be a relatively
04:11smooth one, but things can and have changed quickly on the train network as people have
04:16come to learn over the last 10 months of negotiations between these two parties.
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