The New South Wales Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) is continuing its industrial campaign to pressure the NSW Coalition government to agree to install safety measures on聽the New InterCity Fleet (NIF) between Sydney, Newcastle, Lithgow and Wollongong.
The union wants the government to agree to a binding, written guarantee that the government will modify the South Korean-built NIF聽trains, which it says are unsafe for聽rail聽workers and commuters.
The union about the problems in February 2020. But Transport for NSW has denied that there鈥檚 a problem with traction interlocking on doors, saying it is a 鈥渄esign safety feature鈥.聽The RTBU said in 2020 found the proposed operating model, which relies on CCTV, is 鈥渘ot as safe as current practices and does not address good practice in the industry for intercity operations鈥.
It was discovered in 2019 that the potentially deadly design flaw was that聽train聽guards聽were not able to adequately monitor passengers embarking and disembarking. The trains, which cost $2.43 million, rely almost entirely on CCTV, with no audio to monitor passengers鈥 movements.聽 A guard does not have to remain聽inside the current intercity fleet to check on聽safety.
The new design also prevents the driver opening their door during the critical 15 seconds before the train聽departs. This means that they聽would not be able to find out quickly if a passenger had become caught, or was being dragged.
The independent in November 2020 found that there 鈥渨ill be an unacceptable risk to the travelling public if the NSW聽Trains聽proposed operating model is implemented鈥, particularly for 鈥渢he most vulnerable of the travelling public, children and movement impaired passengers鈥.
The new design also allows the聽train聽to be, hypothetically, operated by a single driver with no guards 鈥 another of the RTBU鈥檚 concerns.
As part of their industrial action, the RTBU is refusing to drive either overseas built or privatised聽trains. This meant that 70% of Sydney鈥檚 network was out of service on July 1. Industrial action on July 6 meant Sydney Trains ran at around 60% of capacity and more action is planned for July 8.
The RTBU took action on July 6 after the government failed to get the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to order the union back to work. RTBU state secretary Alex Claassens welcomed the FWC decision, describing it as 鈥渟ignificant鈥.
鈥淭he Fair Work Commission has today sided with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union and agreed it should continue the protected industrial action planned for the coming days.鈥 However, it said the dispute was not over yet and that 鈥渨e are going to fight it with everything we have鈥, .
An RTBU message to members on July 5, before the FWC hearing, reported the union had been unable to reach a resolution during conciliation. It said the employers had 鈥渙nce again back flipped鈥 by demanding the union vote for an inadequate enterprise agreement聽before it signed off on the NIF safety modifications.
The union has been campaigning for a new EA since the middle of last year. It wants a fair pay rise and an end to the government鈥檚 plans to privatise the rail network, as well as safety issues on the NIF taken seriously.
Transport minister David Elliott had offered some concessions on June 29, including spending $264 million聽on additional safety measures, but Claassens said he must put the promise in writing, as he has reneged on offers before. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 the first time the NSW government has promised it will fix the safety issues.聽Rail聽workers and commuters have been burnt too many times.鈥
Elliott has also offered $3000 bonuses to rail workers, described by the RTBU as 鈥渂ribes鈥, to return to work.聽It has been rejected by the union.