Rail commuters face ‘delays and cancellations’ despite court blocking industrial action in late night hearing

The parties are likely to return to court in the next day or two unless the government is able to land a deal with the union. In a statement, a spokesperson for Minns welcomed the decision but warned there would be “some impacts on the network on Monday that could not be undone in time”.

“This was not a decision we took likely,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier Minns said that despite “exhaustive negotiations”, the two parties had not reached agreement by Sunday afternoon, prompting the government to seek a court order blocking the action.

“I’m disappointed, and I’m very sorry about it, but unfortunately that’s where we are,” he said.

The government has been mired in a series of industrial disputes with workers, including the Nurses and Midwives Association over a new pay deal, and Minns pointed to those disputes in refusing pay demands of the combined rail unions.

“At the end of the day, I can’t say yes to the rail unions whilst at the same time say no to the nurses union and other unions reaching reasonable settlements over the course of 2024,” he said.

The move shocked the RTBU, which accused the government of derailing negotiations that it said had been going “incredibly well”.

“From our perspective, everything was heading in the right direction, but unfortunately all the good work has now been blown up,” RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes said.

At the heart of the late-night court dispute is a multi-enterprise agreement, which is a protection for workers if parts of the state’s transport assets are outsourced or privatised. The government and union had both consented to the agreement, but the government’s lawyers argue that decision meant the RTBU’s planned industrial action was now unprotected.

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman blasted the government over the union furore, saying Minns had left the decision until “five minutes to midnight”, and accusing Labor of turning the state “into a circus run by union ringmasters”.

“All Chris Minns offers NSW families is a timid apology and more chaos … he’s too weak to govern, too scared to lead, and too anchored to the union to fight for everyday commuters,” Speakman said.

The government averted a shutdown of Sydney’s rail network late last month after agreeing to a fortnight of intense negotiations with unions and caving in to a key demand from the RTBU for 24-hour trains for several days.

The last fortnight of bargaining has involved a Treasury official assessing the savings and productivity gains the union had identified as part of the wages deal.

The government’s opening offer comprised wage rises of 9.5 per cent over three years, as well as a further 0.5 per cent in the first if a deal is reached in a “timely manner”. It is substantially lower than demands from the RTBU and five other unions for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years.

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