Commuters hit by days of major train delays are hoping for a reprieve as widespread industrial action is temporarily suspended.
The Fair Work Commission suspended a stack of work bans brought by NSW’s train divers in a bid for a bumper pay rise after thousands of services on Australia’s busiest rail system were cancelled over a chaotic two days.
But the interim order only scraps the industrial action until the commission hears the government’s full case on Wednesday.
The orders being sought would thwart the union’s ability to instigate a new set of work bans and force them into arbitration, where the industrial court could dictate the pay rise workers receive.
After 1900 trains were cancelled on Wednesday, Sydney Trains expected another 1000 would have been scrapped by the end of Thursday and encouraged commuters to avoid travel if possible.
A NSW government spokeswoman welcomed the suspension and said particularly Wednesday’s mass cancellations were “intolerable”.
“Commuters shouldn’t have to suffer while the matter is heard … we will always do everything we can in the interests of the people of NSW,” they said.
A Rail, Tram and Bus Union spokesman said the organisation was disappointed with the decision and would consider its options.
Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher set the government’s court bid down for Wednesday, with the interim order delivered as it could not be heard within five days.
A union lawyer suggested ban on industrial action should not kick in until that five-day window was complete, an argument the commission rejected.
The government said the industrial action had done “significant damage to an important part of the economy”, adding it would produce evidence to that affect at next week’s hearing.
The union, which has been pushing for four annual pay increases of eight per cent, appears unlikely to accept the government’s offer of 15 per cent over four years.
Transport for NSW data showed the train network ran at just 18 per cent on-time on Thursday, with rail patronage down 40 per cent in the morning peak.
Some services ran more than four hours late, they said.
Sydney Trains has defended docking the pay of workers not completing full tasks, such as crews choosing to staff only half as many inter-city services as normal.
About 75 per cent of NSW’s 13,300 rail workers are union members, mostly with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union.