NSW rail workers say yes to enterprise agreement
93 per cent of New South Wales Trainlink and Sydney Trains employees have voted in favor of a new enterprise agreement, following more than 12 months of negotiations and industrial action.
New South Wales Minister for Transport, Veterans and Western Sydney, David Elliott, said this was a significant and successful outcome for New South Wales commuters and rail workers.
“There are more than 3,000 services enabling more than 800,000 commuter journeys across the New South Wales rail network each weekday and Opal data has shown significant numbers of commuters are returning to public transport,” Mr Elliott said.
“Following this positive vote, the traveling public can now have more confidence in the level of service provided on the train network.
“The Sydney Trains and New South Wales TrainLink Enterprise Agreement will now be submitted to the Fair Work Commission for approval.”
More than 10,100 employees voted in the ballot, with more than 9,400 employees (93 percent) casting a ‘Yes’ vote.
New South Wales Minister for Employee Relations, Damien Tudehope, said this successful vote means the end of industrial action on the rail network.
“This outcome formalises the agreement reached with the rail unions last year and will mean no further industrial action over the life of the EA,” Mr Tudehope said.
“This is a welcome result for the public of New South Wales who own the rail network and rely on it every day to go about their lives.”
New South Wales Regional Transport and Roads Minister Sam Farraway said this meant the New South Wales Liberal and National Government could now get on with the task of delivering the New Intercity Fleetlaunch.
“The yes vote is a win for commuters and a win for better services for the thousands of commuters who rely on New South Wales TrainLink services,” Mr Farraway said.
“We can now begin immediately to adapt the new fleet and provide our commuters with trains equipped with the modern amenities they deserve to make their daily lives easier.”
Collectively, there are approximately 12,500 employees who will benefit from a wide range of significantly improved conditions such as:
Managing physical and mental health in the workplace Increasing or increasing access to parental leave, bereavement leave and carer leave entitlements Providing a greater focus on preventing sexual harassment and greater support for employees experiencing family and domestic violence. Improvements have been made to the way of home allowance and a new electrical safety allowance has been introduced for employees who work, supervise or direct work in accordance with Sydney Trains Electrical Safety Systems
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said the changes to the EA were made based on feedback received during the bargaining process from staff, independent bargaining representatives and union delegates.
“We are very pleased with the support the employees have shown for the enterprise agreement package and with the level of understanding of the conditions they have shown during more than 100 briefings held over the past few weeks,” said Mr Longland.
“The result was a good outcome for Sydney Trains and New South Wales TrainLink staff, while also providing ongoing certainty for New South Wales commuters and I would like to thank all employees who voted in the vote to approve the new Enterprise Agreement.”
The approved enterprise agreement will nominally expire in May 2024.
