Sydney’s rail network has been thrown into chaos as hundreds of train drivers and guards refused to show up for work amid an ongoing pay dispute. With peak-hour commuters already facing major delays, conditions are expected to worsen by the afternoon. The state government and rail unions are pointing fingers after negotiations collapsed overnight. Alexander Lewis reports from state parliament.
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00:00One in four train services have been cancelled.
00:05This comes after more than 350 train drivers and guards failed to shop for work.
00:11Although the delays are widespread, authorities say the T2 and T8 lines are especially impacted.
00:19Indeed, people travelling to the airport are urged to consider alternative modes of transport.
00:25While Sydney Trains has put on some coaches to replace those services, there are only
00:30a limited number of buses and passengers have told the ABC they've been waiting more than
00:35an hour for a bus to the airport and are risking missing their flights.
00:39Authorities expect the disruption to only get worse this afternoon.
00:42At the moment we've had around 465 services cancelled.
00:48My sense is that that number will increase into the afternoon.
00:53Unfortunately, Valentine's Day today, people will be out and about in the city and around
00:57Sydney this evening.
00:59My advice would be to avoid the rail network if you need to get to a dinner date.
01:04Let's turn to the cause of the disruption then.
01:07Why did the talks between the rail union and government break down?
01:12Well it comes down to a $4,500 one-off bonus payment that was in the last agreement.
01:19The union claims that this was entrenched in all future agreements and that the government
01:23had said nothing about removing it until the issue arose last night.
01:27The government disputes that, saying it interpreted the words one-off literally and assumed that
01:33it would only apply to the last agreement.
01:36This appears to have been confirmed by the former Transport Minister, David Elliott,
01:40who negotiated that agreement.
01:42He's come out today saying that he understood it to be only a one-off payment.
01:47The government says paying every rail employee an extra $4,500 would amount to $60 million,
01:55which the government hadn't budgeted for.
01:58The rail union says the government should have told them if they were planning to remove
02:02that payment.
02:03Take a listen.
02:05And when you put something into the enterprise agreement, it becomes subject of future bargaining
02:09and can only be taken out as a bargaining claim.
02:12So to hear what we've heard this morning about the government saying we came along
02:17at the last minute and said we want an extra $4,500 is completely disingenuous.
02:23I do want to say that I think the union is gaslighting Sydney.
02:28I think what they're saying to the public and what they're saying to the government
02:32and what they're saying to the courts is clearly very different to what they're saying to their
02:36own members.
02:38Just finally, Alex, a text message from a union delegate that was sent overnight has
02:44sparked condemnation.
02:45What did it say?
02:46Yes, well, it was from a convener at the RTBU who told his fellow members that if they could
02:54afford to take a hit to their pay tomorrow, that they did not have to show up for work.
02:59And it went on to say, let's F the network up.
03:02The language has sparked criticism from the government and also the opposition, which
03:06has described it as an abhorrent piece of union vandalism.
03:11The RTBU has distanced itself from the text message, saying that it wasn't sanctioned
03:16by union bosses and that they acknowledged the message wouldn't provide the public comfort.
03:21But it did say that such attitudes were unsurprising, given how poorly members have been treated
03:27by the government over the past nine months, Lorna.