Sydney Rail Disruptions Escalate as $4,500 Bonus Dispute Heads to Fair Work Commission
Negotiations between the NSW government and rail unions stall over pay disagreements, with industrial action disrupting train services and commuter frustrations mounting.
- 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.
The Sydney Morning Herald 
9News 
The Age 
The Guardian 
SBS News 
Australian Broadcasting Corporation 