The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has backed down from its original plan to switch off Opal machines. It comes after a legal move from the NSW Government — RIP your low-cost train rides, I guess.
Opal reader machines across New South Wales were set to be turned off from this Wednesday, amid the ongoing industrial dispute between the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and the State Government. AKA free train fares, baby.
However, the RTBU has since cancelled its plans after the government lodged a Fair Work Commission application over the situation. It wanted the Union’s action to be declared “unprotected” and said the proposed action was “prima facie unlawful”, according to its legal advice.
“The submission comes after the Combined Rail Unions rejected a number of formal requests from transport officials to withdraw the action,” it said.
Time to top up the ‘ol Opal card then.
The RTBU has withdrawn its action to leave gates open and turn of Opal machines at train stations.
— Unions NSW (@unionsnsw) September 17, 2022
The RTBU said it was “confident the government is wrong” but had made the call to cancel the switch-off plans.
“Commuters will not be getting free travel from Wednesday,” it said in a statement, per 9News.
“The RTBU NSW is fully committed to giving fare free travel to commuters and is now considering alternative ways that this can be achieved.”
This turn of events is perhaps not a massive shock. Last week NSW’s Transport Minister David Elliott said he would take the rail union to court over plans to switch off Opal card readers.
According to the ABC, Elliott was given legal advice that the RTBU’s threat is against the law and said he would take any worker seen switching the readers off to court.
“Prima facie we believe it’s illegal,” he said.
“I will go down to any court in the country to make sure that any person who is seen to be doing this is prosecuted.”
Unions NSW originally announced the ‘yuge news via Twitter on September 14, advising commuters the new measure would commence on September 21 and continue “indefinitely”.
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
All opal machines at train stations in Sydney and NSW will be turned off indefinitely, from Wednesday next week.
If there is no way to tap on or off, you cannot be fined. Please remain vigilant as the NSW Premier may try various tactics to turn machines on.
— Unions NSW (@unionsnsw) September 14, 2022
At the time, NSW RTBU secretary Alex Claasens told The Sydney Morning Herald the Opal reader blackout was designed to piss off the state government, and the union didn’t want travellers to be affected.
“Obviously, we’re making sure that they’re going to be kept open and working the way we want them to work so people don’t have to pay,” he said.
