Industrial action that had disrupted Australia’s busiest train network has been temporarily halted following a court ruling, sparing commuters further inconvenience.
On Wednesday, approximately 1,900 trains were cancelled, with another 1,000 services expected to be scrapped on Thursday as New South Wales (NSW) rail workers escalated industrial action to demand a significant pay rise. However, an urgent hearing by the Fair Work Commission on Thursday led to a ruling that suspended more than 300 work bans, providing relief to the state government and commuters alike.
The commission’s president, Adam Hatcher, issued an interim order halting the bans. A full bench will decide on the government’s request to immediately end the bans and have the industrial dispute resolved next Wednesday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, who interrupted his summer break to address the situation, expressed frustration over the daily struggle to maintain services amid the ongoing industrial action. “You can’t run a public transport system in an international city like Sydney, where every morning you have to work out whether running a simple service from Hurstville to Bondi Junction trips up three, four, or 10 different industrial bans,” he said.
