Train strike: Transport Minister swipes union
Commuters will get a taste of Friday’s train chaos tomorrow morning.
3AW has been told parts of the network will stop from 4.30am until as late as 7.30am so that drivers can attend a stop-work meeting from 3am.
Meanwhile, it’s now believed the four-hour train strike planned for 10am Friday could affect the network for more than seven hours.
The Transport Minister this morning lashed out at the rail union after any chance of having the strike cancelled was dashed when the Fair Work Commission refused to block it last night.
In a hearing yesterday that ran late into the night, Metro, backed by the Andrews Government, argued the stoppage is unsafe and would put the public in danger.
But the commission rejected the submission.
Minister Jacinta Allan is unimpressed.
‘(It’s) disappointing for the workforce who are not seeing the opportunity to get the best possible outcome,’ she told 3AW News.
‘But it’s also disappointing for the passengers; they’re the ones who are going to be punished by the action, and unnecessarily so.’
‘(The union) needs to explain just exactly why they’re walking away, particularly when negotiations continued into yesterday afternoon.’