Queensland Rail is warning more disruptions to Brisbane’s train schedule could be on the cards on Thursday as another union takes protected action during ongoing pay negotiations.
A day after protected action by train controllers from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union led to major disruptions, workers with the Electrical Trades Union are also set to take protected action.
Under the plan, ETU members would not repair any faults on the network unless there was a safety risk.
Trains on the Ipswich/Rosewood line and Cleveland line were disrupted on Wednesday after controllers took action affecting roughly 300 services throughout the day, according to a QR spokesperson.
Queensland Rail chief executive Kat Stapleton said those lines would be up and running as usual on Thursday, but she laid the blame for any further issues at the feet of the ETU.
“Tomorrow’s impacts are unknown at this stage, but if there are any unplanned faults, the ETU has advised its members may not repair them,” Stapleton said.
She said QR had been dealing with six different pay deals involving more than 5600 employees since January.
“The combined unions have sought more than 500 items in their log of claims, many of which far exceed community norms or what would be considered reasonable, such as pet bereavement leave and birthday leave, a 32-hour work week, huge superannuation contribution increases, and extra annual leave,” she said.
The ETU has been contacted for comment.
Wednesday’s controller action was muddied by the public battle for goodwill between the union and employer, with the union claiming the 200 controllers had only wanted to affect freight trains but the state did not allow them to make that distinction.
“Any impact on passengers is purely self-inflicted and entirely the choice of the Queensland government,” RTBU Queensland secretary Peter Allen said.
Stapleton did not dispute that storyline, but said controllers needed to be prepared to do their whole job.
“We want people to come to work and do their full job, which means delivering for all customers – not just passengers, not just freight, but for all of them,” she said outside Central Station on Wednesday morning.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
