Some Comments on the Prospective Sydney Trains Industrial Action

The Labor Government and the railway Labour Union in New South Wales are at loggerheads over pay. [news article in Daily Telegraph] [ABC] The Union wants more money (obviously) and insists on 24-hour trains on weekends (bizarrely, they say it’s for the riders, but let’s say this is for the overtime). The Government wants to pay them more than they get now, but less than they are asking for (obviously). The Government also says 24-hour trains will limit the amount of time for repair and maintenance (bizarrely as well, given the number of maintenance shutdowns here compared to everywhere else in the world, there is a rort going on).

The Union has threatened a Trains system shutdown for 2 full days (Friday and Saturday, plus Thursday night and Sunday morning). Fortunately, this would not include Metro, LRT, buses, or ferries. This would annoy me personally, as I would be forced onto a train replacement bus with many other people if the newsmedia discussions of Trainmageddon doesn’t scare everyone off.

Why are we in this situation?

System Resilience and Governance

The government's (and preceding governments) have failed to establish resilient frameworks for labor negotiations that prevent widespread disruption. A critical point would be the overreliance on centralized systems like Sydney Trains, which create significant vulnerabilities when labor actions occur. The previous Liberal Government built a separate system (Sydney Metro) precisely to limit labor power.

Labor-Management Balance

The demand for a 32% pay rise over four years seems pretty high, especially given the Farebox Recovery rate for Sydney Trains is under 30%, not because of fares, but because of the high levels of staffing. This brings into question appropriate labor market norms and public sector wage sustainability. Perhaps there should be a Fair Wage Commission that sets maximum wages for unionised public sector employees, just as IPART sets maximum fares for trains (and should for toll roads). Both unions and operators are monopolies.

Future-Proofing Through Alternatives

Over-reliance on a single mode of transport—heavy rail—reveals the need for diversified urban mobility options, such as bus rapid transit, cycling infrastructure, and greater integration of flexible micro-mobility options.

Economic and Social Costs

There are broad economic and social impacts of the strike, particularly during high-demand periods like the lead-up to Black Friday and holiday shopping. For instance we are organising student presentations of their Honours Theses on Friday, many of those students (and their supervisors, i.e. me) would use the train. This is an unplanned (but at least announced) disruption. It is needless unreliability that will cause people to build their lives around anything but trains.

FIN.

A Sydney Train