Queensland’s peak rail union has vowed to intensify its industrial campaign and has flagged possible strike action during the May 15 to 17 Magic Round weekend, after negotiations with the state government broke down.
But the union said it was not planning to stop trains or shut the rail network on the weekend that 150,000 NRL fans would descend on Suncorp Stadium, and that its “low-level action” would create only “minor disruptions”.
Their threat came after representatives from the seven unions negotiating new agreements met with their state-owned employer, Queensland Rail, at the Fair Work Commission on Monday afternoon.
Queensland Rail said its latest offer was fair, reasonable and in line with community expectations.
QR head of corporate affairs Nev Conway urged the unions to reach an agreement before Magic Round, but assured passengers that contingency plans would be in place if they did not.
“Magic Round services may be disrupted. We don’t want that, we want Magic Round to stay magic,” Conway said.
“The simple fact of the matter is that we are putting on 12 extra services for up to 12,000 passengers so that footy fans can enjoy the weekend.
“We do all sorts of contingency planning, and all of those things will be considered as this situation [with the unions] holds.”
Peter Allen, secretary of the Queensland branch of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, said QR’s proposals were “pitiful”.
“They are almost a carbon copy of what was provided previously … [and that] would send people’s conditions backwards,” he said.
Allen said this included some people working longer hours, losing money through reduced penalty rates, and wage increases below inflation.
“It’s a farce,” he said. “It means that we need to escalate beyond where we were prior to Easter.”
A breakdown of negotiations before the Easter long weekend disrupted scheduled maintenance on several train lines north and south of Brisbane’s CBD, leading to days of commuter chaos and lengthy travel delays.
“Queensland Rail and the government need to know that we’re serious, and that we’re going to apply pressure to get a reasonable outcome from this set of negotiations,” Allen said.
Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the offer put forward on Monday was generous and “reflective of respecting taxpayers’ money”. He accused the RTBU of putting forward claims amounting to more than $1 billion.
Allen said the union’s requests had been misrepresented by the government and Queensland Rail, and were being used “to bludgeon us into accepting a substandard offer”.
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