Massive progress achieved in Sydney and NSW Trains bargain after meeting with Minister

20 September 2024

Dear Members,

We are pleased to inform you that today we achieved massive progress in our bargain with Sydney Trains and NSW Trains. As a result of the strong action taken by members in response to the proposed closure of the Bankstown Line, and our other actions engaged in over the course of the last two weeks, we have achieved our first big victory of our campaign.

The deal delivered some of our key claims in the bargain:

1.     A multi enterprise agreement for Sydney Trains and NSW Trains. The government will consent to an application (or make it themselves) for the Commission to approve it.

2.     If the multi fails, the government will legislate to bring Sydney Trains and NSW Trains into one rail entity with the Minister supportive of constitutional protections against future privatisation attacks.

3.     An additional allowance embedded in the base rate, payable upon the completion of a Workplace Rights Training Course provided by a union approved provider. The allowance will be worth $1,310.60 annually and payable for all purposes. This equates to around a 2% pay rise for anyone who completes the course.

4.     The new South-West metro will have a member on every platform monitoring the platform train interface as well as a member on every train who is qualified and competent to drive the train. This will continue forever.

Further to that, the Minister has undertaken to intervene in the bargain to solve the issues we have been having with the lack of decision makers at the table. At the end of each week of bargaining, the Minister will meet us to find out whether the week was productive and intervene if progress is not being made.

As a result, the current suite of industrial actions have been paused to allow for bargaining to continue in an intensive manner with a view of finalising the bargain quickly. Members should continue work as normal. The uniform, sticker, and public statements actions remain in place indefinitely.

However, the government should be under no illusion that should bargaining not prove fruitful, industrial action will once again escalate and hold them to account.

We look forward to having discussions with members over the course of the next few weeks, and finalising a bargain that truly represents the value of the work we perform.

Regards,

RTBU NSW