Relief for ‘a million daily commuters' as NSW government and rail unions reach pay deal after months at odds
The New South Wales government has reached an agreement with the rail unions, ending months of negotiations and industrial action.
The proposed enterprise agreement will see about 13,000 rail workers receive a 12% pay increase over three years, plus back pay.
'This agreement will bring relief to the disruption from protected industrial action that a million daily rail commuters have been forced to endure while just trying to get to work and get around,' the NSW transport minister, John Graham said in a statement on Friday.
The agreement also includes technology-based solutions to improve recovery times when there are incidents on the tracks, including a new digital disruption management system that will replace the manual phone call system.
There will be a mechanism for the union to progressively escalate to subject matter experts if there are safety concerns related to a new project.
The NSW government said on Friday that the combined rail unions have agreed to support the rollout and other changes to reduce time lost to delays.
'This process has strained the patience of train passengers but in finalising this deal we have made a very important investment in reliability.
'This much-needed reset allows us to implement improvements for passengers with the full support of the rail workforce and unions.
The agreement, if commenced after a successful ballot of employees, will bring to an about a year of negotiations and work stoppages since the last agreement lapsed in May 2024.
The NSW government said one outstanding clause remains that the ETU does not support, and the Fair Work Commission is working to resolve, but said it does not affect the agreement with the combined rail unions.
The unions had sought a 32% pay rise over four years, compared with the government's starting offer of 9.5% over three years. The 12% offer was first made in February.
According to Transport for NSW, an average Sydney Trains driver earns about $128,000 a year– factoring in common overtime and allowances – while a guard on the network earns about $115,000.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union counters that the average base salary for a Sydney Trains driver is just over $78,000. The latest data from the ABS, released in August 2024, puts median earnings at $72,592 a year.
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