Sydney Trains employees offered 13 per cent pay rise by NSW government

The offer will include an additional 1 per cent rise in superannuation contributions plus another 1 per cent rise made through savings.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the offer would involve merging Sydney Trains and NSW Trains over the course of the next enterprise agreement.

Ms Haylen encouraged rail workers to support the government’s offer.

“This offer is reflective of the government’s value of them and the role that they play each and every day here in Sydney and across New South Wales,” Ms Haylen said.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) has made a number of demands including a 32 per cent pay rise over four years, a 35-hour work week and an additional 1 per cent in superannuation contributions.

Ms Haylen said the offer included improved conditions which she said would be paid through productivity gains.

“The process of negotiation is give and take. You don’t get something for free,” she said.

“There are amendments proposed to the enterprise agreement that would assist us to pay for these conditions.”

Meanwhile, Transport for NSW said that commuters should expect service reductions and cancellations from Wednesday due to 350 ongoing and new industrial bans.

It said buses would support train services on some lines in the off-peak where required.

Union seeking details of government’s offer

RTBU NSW branch secretary Toby Warnes said the government had not provided the union a draft enterprise agreement about what it had offered its members.

“We have heard the government is putting the agreement to a vote. We’re not sure how the government plans to do that. We still don’t have a draft document in which our members could consider,” Mr Warnes said.

Mr Warnes said the additional 1 per cent increase the government offered workers would be made through job losses from combining Sydney Trains and NSW Trains.

He said the government’s proposed changes to the enterprise agreement would remove a “significant” safety protection that was put in place by the previous state government.

“We’re incredibly disappointed that a Labor government has come after what is a core safety commitment made by the last government.”

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said the RTBU had rejected an offer to suspend industrial action while workers consider the offer.

“We’ll see increased numbers of services running slower, particularly our intercity and regional services will be affected,” Mr Longland said.

“We’ll see difficulties in managing incidents in the rail operations centre as a result of some of these bans.”

Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations Damien Tudehope said the government was in “industrial chaos” and the offer betrayed regional parts of the state.

“This is an offer which is saying to regional NSW, we are going to get rid of NSW Trains and the jobs which are going to be sacrificed in relation to that will be regional jobs,” Mr Tudehope said.

“It goes to show that this is a government that is focused on Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, and if you live in any other area in NSW then this government does not know that you exist.”

ABC NEWS  AUSTRALIA