NSW Transport Minister David Elliott has unloaded on a union’s “bulls**t” spin as Sydney trains remain at a standstill.
Transport authorities on Monday sensationally suspended services across Sydney. Newcastle, Central Coast, Blue Mountains and the Illawarra due to a long-running dispute with the Rail, Train and Bus Union.
The union wants greater protections over safety guarantees, hygiene and privatisation concerns.
Both parties put the blame on one another, with the rhetoric sensationally escalating after Mr Elliott accused the union of engaging in “terrorist-like” behaviour.
“I think we’re going to have a large standoff right now because they cannot use Sydney’s transport system for some sort of terrorist-like activity,” Mr Elliott told 2GB radio.
Asked if the services were shuttered amid confusion over a Fair Work Commission deal that was struck between the two over the weekend, Mr Elliott reponsed: “That’s bulls**t.”
“That is union spin and to say that – I’m furious about them taking the city for a ride today.
“Why the hell would I want a strike to occur on a Monday that universities are going back? I’m so furious.”
However, the RTBU’s recollection of events is in stark contrast to Mr Elliott’s.
NSW secretary Alex Claassens said staff turned up to work only to be told the government had cancelled trains.
“We are not on strike,” Mr Claassens said.
“All the people sitting in the meal rooms all across the network are ready to work at a minute’s notice.”
Services were cancelled around midnight on Sunday after negotiations between the union and Transport for NSW broke down.
Both parties had twice appeared before the Fair Work Commission at the weekend before the decision to cancel services following the union’s threat of industrial action.
Premier Dominic Perrottet claimed the union left Sydney Trains with no choice.
“I am incredibly disappointed, I feel the anger of everyone across the city,” he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was also quick to weigh in on the fracas.
“This is just not how you behave. This is not how you treat your fellow citizens,” he told 2GB.
“We’ve had nurses, we’ve had teachers, we’ve had police officers and everyone working hard through the pandemic, and we’ve got international arrivals opening up today and the union’s welcome to them will be a train strike.
“I feel for all those Sydneysiders today who are affected by the strike.”
His comments come a week after the government “stared down” the Australian Maritime Workers Union, which planned to strike in the face of the AUKUS agreement.
“They backed off. That’s what our government will do when it’s falling into our areas of responsibility, and I’ve no doubt the NSW government will take a strong stand as well,” Mr Morrison said.
“But when they (unions) think they’ve got the power, well, you know what they do? We’ve seen it before from our waterfront to now our trains.”
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said the union was being “deliberately provocative and belligerent”.
“It will exacerbate the problem full stop. When you call a strike at 2am you are picking a fight, not calling a strike, and being a bully,” he told Channel 7.
Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon responded by saying despite the disruption, a “lot of Sydneysiders will be sympathetic to their cause”.
“When strikes are called, it is usually for complex reasons. Surely Barnaby is not suggesting that workers be denied the right to withdraw their labour,” he said.
“They have been on this campaign for a long time and the NSW government has mismanaged it.”
