Two days of free train travel for NSW after government, unions sign pay deal
On Saturday afternoon the government signed a three-year deal with the rail unions with 92 per cent of workers voting in favour of the new enterprise agreement.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary Toby Warnes described the result as "truly a majority", saying the voter turnout from members was a "historic high".
He said the period of bargaining had felt long but what has been agreed upon was "something that people were really quite happy with".
"But we're really glad we've been able to get this bargain agreement over the line, now we can carry on providing service to the people of New South Wales as our members love to do every day."
Under the agreement workers will get a 12 per cent pay rise over three years plus back pay, they will also see an improvement to their conditions and technological advances.
Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink will also become one entity.
From Thursday July 31 and Friday August 1, metro and regional train trips across the NSW will cost nothing.
Minister for Transport John Graham told ABC News it was a great result for rail commuters, adding it would allow for further investment into the reliability of the network.
"We know this has been a big impact on people, we know it's been a huge inconvenience — that disruption is over," Mr Graham said.
Four rail unions and the state government have been locked in an ongoing pay dispute for months.
The unions had been demanding better pay and working conditions, with negotiations often clouded by multiple rounds of industrial action and legal proceedings.
"These enterprise agreements have to run through the processes," Mr Graham said.
"This is half the time it took to land the last agreement but for commuters it has been a big disruption."
Last year, doubt was cast over whether Sydney's iconic New Year's Eve firework celebrations would go ahead, after the union threatened to bring the city's rail network to a halt.
On several occasions, the network faced complete shutdowns, including four days of strike action in November last year.
Saturday's landmark agreement, which is now submitted for formal approval with the Fair Work Commission, will last for three years.
"We'll work really closely over these three years with the workforce, and I hope we're on good terms as we come to the next agreement," Mr Graham said.
"But of course, rail workers at the end of this agreement will have the chance to renegotiate their pay and conditions."
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said it was a win for staff but an even bigger win for the travelling public.
"With this certainty, Sydney Trains can resume its focus on delivering a safe, reliable, and disruption-free service," Mr Longland said.
"Passengers can have renewed confidence that the trains they rely on will be there when they need them."
The government hopes passengers will use the fare-free period to support local businesses hit hard by the industrial action.
"Some of these businesses took a big hit during the period of disruption and they deserve a shot in the arm," Mr Graham said.
Opal gates will be switched off for the 48-hour period at all Sydney trains, NSW TrainLink, Sydney Metro and Airport Line services.
Buses, ferries and light rail trips will still come at a cost.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
16 minutes ago
- ABC News
ATM supplier atm2go begins removes machines from stores linked to illicit tobacco trade
A second ATM supplier – whose machines were once used by a cannabis kingpin – has begun pulling out its devices from stores linked to the illicit tobacco trade. The move by Queensland-based atm2go follows an ABC investigation which revealed how ATM companies were fuelling predominantly cash sales of illegal cigarettes by placing their private machines in stores. Rival supplier Next Payments publicly acknowledged the problem late last month and began removing 40 machines it believed were linked to the illicit trade. Major payments processing company EFTEX, which industry sources said handled transactions for atm2go, has vowed to cease handling transactions for tobacco stores from September following media scrutiny. Atm2go refused to discuss the matter when contacted by the ABC. "No comment," one senior member of the company said this week, before hanging up. The ABC had found atm2go machines in a string of stores selling illicit cigarettes — with sales occurring even after some shops in Queensland had been suspended by health authorities for breaching tobacco laws. Court documents also showed atm2go had cut deals to install ATMs with a man charged and later convicted with proceeds of crime and tobacco offences. In another case in Darwin, a man jailed for massive cannabis dealing had atm2go machines that he told an underling to load with drug cash. The ABC this week revisited four south-east Queensland locations that had been selling illegal cigarettes. In the past two months, atm2go machines were found inside but the machines were gone this week from three shops. A sign outside one of the stores in Oxley, on Brisbane's southside, said: "The ATM has been removed. Please use the ATM located inside where Woolies is." People with knowledge of the machines said the removalists had come suddenly. The fourth store in inner Brisbane's West End had a sign plastered across the atm2go machine saying it was not working and implored customers to: "please bring cash next time as the ATM will be out for awhile!" Atm2go was once heavily focused on events and used a franchise system, but industry sources said COVID-19 and ensuing lockdowns had disrupted its model. The company had in recent years been crowing in social media posts about putting machines in stores selling tobacco. Federal Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's office has asked regulators to examine private ATMs.
ABC News
16 minutes ago
- ABC News
Coriolanus star Hazem Shammas on the futility of making art at a time of crisis
Hazem Shammas doesn't see the point in making art at a time like this. "I feel the futility of it more and more," he tells ABC Arts. It's a disappointing and troubling feeling for the Palestinian Australian actor, best known for roles in TV shows Safe Harbour, Underbelly and The Twelve. Shammas is grappling with this as he prepares to play the title role of Coriolanus in a new production by Bell Shakespeare in Melbourne. The rarely performed play — it's Bell's first staging in almost 30 years — is about the corrosive influence of power and politics. Shammas plays Coriolanus, a soldier who returns to Rome victorious after war with the Volscians. Called upon to be the city's next consul, he faces opposition from both the city's elected tribunes (played by Matilda Ridgway and Marco Chiappi) and ordinary citizens. He rallies against the idea of popular rule, saying citizens having any power over politicians allows "crows to peck the eagles". Consequently he is banished from Rome, and soon seeks revenge on the city by joining forces with the Volscians. Coriolanus — marking Shammas's return to Bell Shakespeare after starring in Macbeth in 2023 — is landing rave reviews, but the actor had to be convinced to take on the role. "It's not the crowd-pleaser that, say, Macbeth is, and it's not known so much," he says. "And the language: I get a real sense of Shakespeare's maturity in his writing; the poetry is denser." While parallels have been drawn between the character of Coriolanus and US President Donald Trump, the far more disturbing link for Shammas is to the war in Gaza, where 146 people including 88 children have died of malnutrition and the death toll has passed 60,000 people since Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023. "We're studying power in a time when there are horrific abuses of power and that affects me," Shammas says. "I'm a Palestinian, playing a role where the actor walks around talking about wiping people out as a solution. "I'm playing a role where a man walks around talking about essentially ethnic cleansing. "Of course I'm going to think about that constantly." Making theatre at this time, Shammas says, is "dabbling in whimsy" and an "intellectual privilege". "[Coriolanus] is a play about the abuses of power, but when we're living in a climate of utter, horrific abuse of power and our arts community is silenced, and we remain silent, it troubles me." Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Australian artists whose work has referenced the Arab-Israeli conflict, or who have spoken out about human rights abuses, including the killing of journalists, have had performances cancelled and awards rescinded. Those artists include Khaled Sabsabi, who, after being dropped was recently reinstated to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale; and Jayson Gillham, who is suing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for his cancelled performances. Expressions of support for the Palestinian cause have also ended in censorship. Writer K A Ren Wyld lost a $15,000 fellowship over a social media post following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in October last year, which was deleted shortly after it was posted. Kellee Green's win at the Queensland Music Awards for an instrumental song titled 'River to Sea' led to the Brisbane City Council withdrawing funding for the awards; workshops by Omar Sakr and other writers at the State Library Victoria were cancelled over "child and cultural safety"; and when some of the cast of The Seagull at Sydney Theatre Company wore keffiyehs to a curtain call, a number of donors and board members withdrew. "How are we OK with our artists and our writers being constantly silenced?" Shammas says. "How are we OK with things being defunded or threatened [to be defunded] constantly? "We're in a perpetual state of fear, and we're walking around not talking about it, only worried about our next job and whether we've got a job or not, while people are being f**king slaughtered." Shammas argues government intervention "can stop our voices". "But it's happening everywhere and to everyone right now purely because of a f**king genocide that is being allowed to happen in Palestine. "[That intervention] is more troubling now than it was [in the past]." Israel has repeatedly denied it is pursuing a campaign of genocide in Gaza, accusing Hamas in turn of trying to wipe out the Jewish population in Israel. Shammas does not intend to stop working in the arts. "That's who I am; it's what I do," he says. "That's why I'm so troubled by this." And while he is frustrated by the failure of the Australian arts community to speak up against against the war in Gaza and what he argues is censorship, he is also at times heartened by solidarity in the wider community. For example, current and former collaborators — including Coriolanus co-stars Jules Billington and Matilda Ridgway — have signed an open letter of more than 4,000 artists to the federal government calling for unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, potential sanctions of Israel, and recognition of Palestinian statehood. "I don't doubt the people I work with and their capacities for engagement in this," he says. "I don't doubt any individual audiences' capacities for engagement in this. "But I doubt our collective will for engagement in this." Still, Shammas remains proud of the work he and his collaborators at Bell Shakespeare have done on Coriolanus. "We've created an exceptional piece of art," he says. But he fears the ideas about power and politics in the play fail to reach beyond the theatre. That impelled him to speak up. Coriolanus is at Arts Centre Melbourne until August 10.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
What's on in Darwin August 2 and 3, 2025: Festival tips, 360 at Mayberry, and crocodile racing
WHAT'S ON THIS WEEKEND Music lovers are again in for a treat this weekend. If you've been keeping up with my Gig Guide on We Are Locals, you'll know that all weekend this weekend is the 53rd Top Half Folk Festival. But this year is a little different, it's at Mt Bundy Station, on the banks of the Adelaide River. The festival is bringing together more than 40 artists from across the NT and beyond, for four days and three nights of music and entertainment. It started yesterday but you can just go for the day any day this weekend, or grab yourself a weekend pass. It's a bit of a long weekend treat, going out to a gig on a Sunday night – and fans of Aussie hip hop can catch 360 with his special guest PEZ at Mayberry from 8pm. If you're keen to get on the microphone yourself, it's First Sunday Blues at Tracy Village from 3pm. Head along to listen to the local blues bands, or sign yourself up to belt out a few tracks on the board when you enter. And Monday, of course, is the Darwin Cup – but if you're feeling like going full Territory, check out the 'Croc Cup Carnival' at the Berry Springs Tavern on Sunday from 2pm. Yes – it's croc racing … But don't worry, they're only freshies. SOMEWHERE YOU NEED TO EAT It's an oldie but a goodie – so if you've been there, I am sure this is a welcome reminder to bring it back into the rotation, and if not: you need to try the Moorish lunch special. For $35, you get the choice of three tapas plates and a glass of Sangria – and if you go with friends and all get different plates, it's a seriously good way of tasting the whole menu. If you're going to order your own meals, try the Portobello mushroom with cauliflower puree, almonds, currants and truffle oil. YUM. LOCAL'S TIP It's officially less than a week to go until Darwin Festival – a reminder to break free of the NT stereotype of buying tickets at the last minute, and actually pre-booking your shows to avoid disappointment, and support the arts. Speaking of supporting: brand new gym and recreation facility, Gecko Climb, opens this weekend. It's four years in the making. There's some serious climbing equipment there and they're also running a cafe, workout spaces, team building areas – the whole shebang! It takes a lot of work to bring something of that scale to life, and I always have great respect for people who go all in to bring new things to Darwin – so get down and check it out.
