Although Sydneysiders have long been fed up with seemingly endless rail strikes, the possible cancellation of the city’s New Year’s fireworks show is the final straw.
Australians have criticized the Rail Tram and Bus Union for putting one of the country’s biggest annual events at risk over “greedy” demands following a warning from NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Friday.
Webb made it clear that he would recommend canceling the famous New Year’s Eve fireworks display on Sydney Harbor Bridge if the planned strikes went ahead.
New Year’s Eve is the busiest day on Australia’s largest railway network, as millions of people travel across Sydney Harbor and other parts of the city to watch fireworks and other celebrations.
Some 3,200 services run approximately every five minutes “to get people in and out safely,” said Transport Minister Jo Haylen.
However, the more than 250,000 people expected to rely on public transportation this year face chronic delays and cancellations due to union members’ plan to limit the distance train drivers can travel per shift.
The chaos of the rule was already felt this weekend with more than 580 services canceled on Saturday alone.
Now Australians are looking for someone to blame for the possible cancellation of the fireworks show; some blame the union for its demanding demands and others blame the Chris Minns government for failing in the negotiations.
Sydney’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks could be canceled over concerns the planned Rail Tram and Bus Union action spells disaster for large crowds.
‘If the Sydney fireworks don’t go ahead this New Year’s Eve, Minns should resign on January 1, 2025! This is due to Minns’ incompetence, failure and complete lack of ability to stand up to union attacks!’ one wrote in X.
‘Wow. If the greedy NSW transport union ends up canceling the Sydney fireworks because their overpaid fuckers want a pay rise from an already overburdened public, there will be calls for them to disband entirely,’ said another.
‘Australia’s biggest showcase to the world is the New Year’s Eve fireworks held every year in Sydney. If it is canceled due to a NSW Rail pay dispute, its reputation will be a disaster and future tourists won’t bother coming,” wrote another.
Some of the union’s demands include four annual wage increases of eight percent, more same-day overtime pay, an increase in annual leave to 5 weeks (non-shift work) and 6 weeks (shift work) and leave for unlimited illness. .
Negotiations between the government and the union collapsed on Thursday, prompting Webb’s swift and stern warning about the celebration.
“If there are no trains available and people cannot leave the city, I am very concerned about the risk this will create for the public because families will not be able to get home and will be trapped in the city.” no way out,” he said Friday.
RTBU Secretary of State Toby Warnes responded later that day and blamed the government for the entire situation.
“If the fireworks are canceled, it will be the total responsibility of the government,” he said.
Australians condemned the union and state government for putting the fireworks at risk.
The state government plans to argue the strike could cause a risk to public safety on New Year’s Eve at a Fair Work Commission hearing on Christmas Eve.
However, the rail union argues that the action would only delay trains and force some cancellations.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen disparaged the union’s image that work bans were a means of getting the government back to the negotiating table.
“They say, ‘Well, let’s talk about it,'” he told reporters.
“But the fact is, unless you agree with them, there is no end point.”
The unions continue to demand four annual eight percent pay increases, which Minns says is unaffordable and could not happen while he denies nurses a similar claim.
Previously, the government offered 11 per cent over three years, including pension increases.
Railroad workers were willing to settle for a middle ground, Warnes said.
“If the government wants to come to the table with an offer, they should make it and then we will take it to our members,” he said.
“If our members accept it, then the dispute is resolved.”
Outside of that, the Fair Work Commission can be asked to resolve the dispute from February.