Key Points
- The Rail, Tram and Bus Union and the NSW government are yet to agree on a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
- Workers have taken industrial action and there are concerns how the action could affect services on New Year's Eve.
- The union wants the government to provide free travel to the public in exchange for a stop to industrial action.
A wages dispute which the NSW Police commissioner has said could threaten Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks show will go before the industrial umpire on Tuesday.
The NSW government and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) have been at loggerheads for months .
Ahead of the Fair Work Commission hearing, the union has called for the government to provide free train travel while the government considers the impact any train interruptions could have on revellers in the city on 31 December.
The dispute
The government previously offered an 11 per cent pay rise across three years, including superannuation increases, however
Hundreds of trains were cancelled at the weekend.
While RTBU NSW branch secretary Toby Warnes acknowledged union members taking approved industrial action had impacted the Sydney train network, he said planned track work had contributed to 80 per cent of interruptions on the weekend.
The Fair Work Commission will decide on Tuesday whether or not to suspend the union's industrial action.
Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks
On Friday, NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb threatened to call off the world-famous New Year's Eve fireworks event on Sydney Harbour, citing safety reasons concerning the planned industrial action.
"I have grave concerns," she told reporters.
"I haven't ruled out that I will recommend to the government that we cancel the fireworks."
The NSW Police commissioner has threatened to call of Sydney's New Year's Eve Fireworks display due to safety concerns in regard to possible planned industrial action on the night. Source: Getty / EyeEm Mobile GmbH
"We do have options if we're unsuccessful tomorrow, I don't want to speculate on them ... but you know, nothing's off the table," he said.
Warnes told media on Monday: "The action that we’re going to take on New Year's Eve is not going to significantly affect train services, train services will run almost as normal on New Year's Eve.
"We’re not stopping trains, there will be trains on New Year's Eve."
Warnes said the suggestion that the fireworks may not go ahead was an: "Outrageous stunt that is scaring people of NSW as it was designed to do."
"There’s no chance New Year's Eve fireworks will be cancelled," he said.
Free travel
The RTBU had offered the NSW government a peace deal on Sunday, promising to pause all protected industrial action until 7 January if it made public transport travel free until an agreement was reached, but Minns rejected the offer.
On Monday Warnes said if the government agreed to provide the public with free travel until an agreement was done, the union would stop all industrial action.
Train cancellations in Sydney due to industrial action over the weekend affected those using the network. Source: Getty / Oliver Strewe
"The government has asked for certainty to the people of NSW, the premier has the opportunity to provide the certainty, all he has to do is take it."
- With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press.
