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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the Sydney Trains saga should be dealt with at state level after NSW Premier Chris Minns suggested he could seek federal government help to end the dispute.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has organised multiple strikes over the summer, triggering chaos for Sydney commuters, and the warring parties are set to appear in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) again on Wednesday.
Minns foreshadowed engaging Albanese and federal Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt as a means of preventing any future industrial action on the rail network.
Under section 431 of the Fair Work Act, the federal workplace minister can terminate industrial action if they are satisfied that it would endanger the lives, safety or welfare of the population or cause significant damage to the Australian economy.
Sydney commuters have dealt with months of industrial actions causing major disruption on the train network.Credit: Wolter Peeters
However, when asked on ABC Sydney if he would intervene, Albanese said while he supported Minns, it was a matter for NSW.
“Actually, to correct you, this is a state dispute, a state branch of a union over pay with a state government. I support very much the efforts of the Minns government to bring this dispute to an end,” Albanese said.
“Common sense has to apply here, and I think that the union needs to acknowledge that it is alienating people through these actions of not turning up to work. And there was hope on the weekend that it would be settled.”
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Asked if Watt could intervene under the federal Fair Work Act, Albanese did not answer the question, instead noting that “Chris Minns is working very hard to get an end to this dispute”.
Minns also spoke on the issue with 2GB’s Ben Fordham this morning, where he said, “Everything’s on the table pending the outcome of the case tomorrow”, including going to the PM to request intervention under section 431.
Minns lamented that NSW had to deal with the Fair Work Commission under federal legislation.
“I wish it was in the NSW system. We’ve reformed the industrial system in NSW. We’ve got 60 per cent of public sector workers in new agreements, and we haven’t had the level of industrial disruption we’ve seen on the railways.”
