More train disruptions possible in Brisbane as sparkies take action over pay deal

Brisbane train passengers could face further disruptions on Thursday as another union takes protected action during ongoing pay negotiations, Queensland Rail has warned.

A day after protected action by train controllers from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) led to delays and cancelled services, about 150 to 200 workers with the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) are taking protected action.

ETU members had said they would come into work but not repair faults on the network unless there was a safety risk. Queensland Rail told them they would not be paid unless they performed their full duties.

Those workers opted not to be at work.

Delays could occur if electrical issues such as unplanned signalling faults or damage to boom arms occurred.

Queensland Rail said it was confident it could ensure all infrastructure remained safe, and some non-unionised workers remained on the job.

As of the morning peak hour, no disruptions had been reported on the network.

Union president Jason Young said they had been negotiating in good faith, and had wanted to come into work under the terms of the planned protected action.

“It’s like taking a sledgehammer to a china shop to fix a thumbtack … it’s ridiculous,” he said.

Young said ETU members were pushing for their own agreement for electrical workers, but the government body had not been open to it.

Queensland Rail chief executive Kat Stapleton said on Wednesday any disruptions would be the fault of the ETU.

“[Thursday’s] impacts are unknown at this stage, but if there are any unplanned faults, the ETU has advised its members may not repair them,” she said.

Trains on the Ipswich-Rosewood line and Cleveland line were disrupted on Wednesday after controllers took action affecting about 300 services throughout the day, according to a QR spokesperson.

About 20,000 people had their services delayed or cancelled.

Stapleton 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 workweek, huge superannuation contribution increases, and extra annual leave,” she said.

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 this, 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.

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