Angry commuters have attacked Sydney trains and buses as commuters face another round of possible strikes in the run-up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
NSW Premier Chris Minns earlier this month obtained a last-minute injunction from the Federal Court, preventing the rail union from going on strike.
However, the court dismissed the state government’s technical argument seeking to invalidate the industrial action on Thursday afternoon.
This means the Railway, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) was given the green light for up to 8,000 workers to go on strike in the run-up to the festive season.
The move could cause trains in Harbor City to come to a complete halt for 24 hours, causing travel chaos for commuters.
NSW TrainLink said services to Wollongong and Bomaderry had already stopped running on Thursday, fearing more train lines would be affected in the coming days.
The impending strikes caused outrage among Sydneysiders, with commuters criticizing the union and the government for failing to reach an agreement.
‘Outrageous. “I’m sick of these clowns,” one person wrote on social media.
Angry commuters have attacked Sydney trains and buses after commuters face another possible round of strikes in the run-up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
The union has not said when or if a strike will take place, but threatened that workers would do “whatever it takes to get what they deserve.”
‘Governments are clowns. If only they negotiated with the workers,” a second person agreed.
“RTBU are idiots,” wrote a third.
A fourth added: ‘I love when they said on TV that nothing they did was against people and then immediately threatened to shut down the whole network. “How to stop playing with people’s lives.”
Meanwhile, Qantas has sought to reassure passengers that industrial action by maintenance engineers will not affect the airline’s flights in the run-up to Christmas.
The airline says it has set contingencies for an industrial strike on Friday, and a similar action by engineers in early December had no impact on customers.
But unplanned maintenance issues, adverse weather or other events could still impact operations, the flagship airline said.
“Our teams are working hard to ensure this strike has minimal impact on customers’ holiday plans and we have implemented a number of contingencies and additional resources on the ground to ensure our customers travel as planned,” a spokesperson said. from Qantas. in a statement.
Qantas said around 160 line maintenance engineers were recruited to work during Friday’s strike and that the additional groups taking action were part of long-term maintenance teams that did not provide engineering support on the day of operation.
Qantas has sought to reassure passengers that industrial action by maintenance engineers will not affect the airline’s flights in the run-up to Christmas.
NSW RTBU secretary Toby Warnes (left) explained the union was planning a strike on New Year’s Eve if demands were not met.
The Federal Court dismissed the state government’s injunction, which sought to invalidate the union’s industrial action (pictured, NSW Premier Chris Minns).
It comes after the RTBU was authorized to impose a series of work bans “immediately” following the Federal Court victory on Thursday.
The strike could lead to network outages unless trains run 24 hours a day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
So far, the RTBU has refrained from banning its members from work and has not yet indicated when this will happen.
However, the union and several other railroad unions voted go on strike from December 28, which would have a major impact on Sydneysiders’ Christmas and New Year celebrations.
RTBU secretary Toby Warnes revealed that his members would only work at half capacity on New Year’s Eve if the union’s demands were not met and that he believed the union and the government could reach an agreement before the December 28.
“RTBU members will do whatever it takes to get what they deserve,” Mr Warnes said. The daily telegraph.
“I think the government and we are going to reach an agreement… (we are) getting closer and closer by the minute, when we actually talk to each other.”
Businesses and restaurants could be hit hard if planned disruptions continue, as venues often rely on foot traffic during the festive season and one of Sydney’s biggest nights of the year.
Businesses could face a huge loss of up to $78 million in revenue on New Year’s Eve if two-thirds of revelers stay home, Business NSW estimated.
Business NSW also estimated a loss of up to $59 million if the New Year’s Eve crowd was half its normal size.