Overview

• The NSW government and rail unions are locked in a dispute over a $4,500 bonus payment promised by the previous administration, which the current government refuses to honor.
• The Fair Work Commission is hearing arguments from both sides, with the government seeking to suspend industrial action to allow further negotiations without disruptions.
• Rail unions argue that the government's issuance of 471 lockout notices, docking worker pay for participating in industrial action, has exacerbated tensions and caused network disruptions.
• Union representatives claim they were close to a deal, proposing a trade-off of the bonus for a 1% pay increase in the third year of a new agreement, but negotiations collapsed last week.
• Federal Workplace Minister Murray Watt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have declined to intervene, emphasizing that the matter should be resolved at the state level.