Sydney train chaos continues as rail staff strike over pay dispute, leaving commuters stranded

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Sydney train commuters faced another day of major disruptions as hundreds of rail staff walked off the job following failed pay negotiations. The government is scrambling to halt the industrial action, accusing unions of "gaslighting" the public, while frustrated travellers deal with missed flights and work delays.

Transcript

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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