Infuriating photos have emerged of hundreds of Sydney train workers standing idle on platforms and in depots after the entire rail network was shut down without warning on Monday, stranding commuters on the first weekday after working from home rules were eased.
The NSW Government made a late-night decision to shut down the system, leading to 22km-long traffic jams on major roads. Pictures obtained by Daily Mail Australia show workers in orange high-vis vests sitting in a depot lunch room or milling about Central Station platform, with nothing to do.
The Rail Tram and Bus Union claims staff were 'locked out' despite agreeing to work, but Transport Minister David Elliott has dismissed this as 'union spin'. Premier Dominic Perrottet slammed the shutdown as a 'concerted campaign' by unions and the Labor party to cause disruption, while the union insists its planned industrial action would not have affected services.
Federal Labor frontbencher Tony Burke tweeted that the claim trains were stopped due to a strike is wrong, stating the government chose chaos. The shutdown has caused gridlock on motorways, school closures due to teachers unable to get to work, and comes as international borders reopened and work-from-home rules ended.
The dispute between the NSW Government and the union centres on safety guarantees, hygiene, wages, and privatisation concerns, with both sides blaming each other for the chaos.
