There are fears the ongoing train strikes in NSW will push congested Sydney roads to breaking point. More than 1000 train services were cancelled on both Wednesday and Thursday as the months-long dispute between the NSW government and the unions drags on.
Premier Chris Minns announced on Thursday the government would immediately lodge a new application with the Fair Work Commission, seeking to empower the commission to intervene in protected industrial action if it is found to endanger life, personal safety or health, or welfare of people or cause significant damage to the economy. The Fair Work Commission hearing was due to start on Thursday evening.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury expects the prolonged dispute will turn people away from public transport and back to using their cars.
“If people don’t have the confidence that public transport is going to work for them, they will absolutely just get back in their cars,” Khoury told Yahoo News on Thursday.
Traffic in Sydney set to become ‘serious’ if train strikes continue
And while roads have been relatively quiet during the school holidays he warns commuters to expect worsening conditions as school returns next month and universities also reopen.
“They call it Mad March for a reason as that is when traffic goes to its peak again,” Khoury said.
“We could have some serious problems on our hands if this [dispute] is still going.” And while the NRMA is not taking sides in the industrial dispute between the government and the unions, they have concerns not only for its impact on the roads, but for how it may harm the local economy.
The alternative to people turning from public transport to their own cars is that they just cancel their journeys. “There is an economic impact and a societal impact as people become less connected, because it is easier to just stay home,” Khoury said.
A crowded train station during strike chaos in Sydney this week. Source: Facebook/Rebecca Yeh.
More than 100 peak-hour services were cancelled on Wednesday morning out of the 393 that had been scheduled, or about 25 per cent, with delays on the T4 line connecting Sydney’s CBD to the eastern suburbs and Sutherland Shire reporting delays of up to nearly five hours.
NSW government and rail union blame each other
Minns acknowledges the industrial disruption is affecting hundreds of thousands of people and wants to bring it to an end, but says the stubbornness of the unions is preventing a resolution.
“We have sat in good faith with the unions for a long time, we’ve come to the table with a good faith offer,” he said on Thursday. We’ve made that offer public to NSW employees in the transport system. We’ve done everything we possibly can to get to an agreement with the rail unions – they’ve continued to hold out.”
He said ongoing negotiations would have been fine had public transport outages not impacted “nearly every family in Sydney”.
“If the Fair Work Commission agrees with the government’s application, that’s the end of protected industrial action on the railways in NSW, and we go to an arbitrated decision.”
The premier said the decision was not one made lightly, but called it “appropriate” in the circumstances.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union hit back at the government’s move, with a statement from the union branding it “nothing more than a desperate attempt to shift the blame for its own failure to negotiate with workers”.
The union claimed the government had failed to engage in bargaining for 44 days.
“If the NSW government truly cared about its essential workers — whether it’s nurses, psychiatrists, or rail workers — it would have come to the table long ago with a fair offer for these important workforces,” the RTBU statement read.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.