“It’s fantastic that this long, and often bitter, dispute can finally be put behind us and that workers can get back to doing what they do best – moving commuters safely around the state,” Warnes said.
While having to pay out a higher pay rise than its initial offer of 9.5 per cent over three years, the agreement does provide some wins for the state government: One clause agrees to ditch the current system of phone calls and paper note-taking during a crisis on the train network, and replace this with a digital system.
When a broken overhead wire caused three days of chaos across the network in May, bringing some lines close to a complete standstill, the old system of note-taking made coping with the disaster more difficult, Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said.
The ongoing pay dispute between the rail unions and the government was felt by commuters. Since last September the campaign has threatened major events including New Year’s Eve and left passengers crowded on platforms and packed train carriages for hours.
In February, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey accused the RTBU of “gaslighting Sydney” with a “sneak strike” after messages emerged from a union convenor suggesting members “just not show up” for shifts and “f— the network up”.
A reprieve finally came when the Fair Work Commission ordered the unions to halt industrial action in February, however that order expired on July 1.
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