A union plan to deactivate Opal card readers has been scuppered 24 hours before it was set to begin, with a court case delaying the action the NSW government argues is illegal.
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The Rail, Tram and Bus Union says it's under attack from a hostile state government.
NSW secretary Alex Claassens says all the state's workers should be watching with great fear.
"This government has shown that this is not about finding a resolution ... this is actually far worse," Mr Claassens told reporters on Wednesday.
"This is quite clearly a political strategy to take us all the way through the next election and out the other side, and in the process, sue its own workforce and bankrupt the union that seeks to speak on their behalf."
Transport Minister David Elliott says bankrupting the union is not part of government strategy but is a possibility.
"My appeal to the union is think very, very carefully about how confident you are in winning because this will cost you a fortune," he told reporters Wednesday.
Finance Minister Damien Tudehope said other unions had nothing to fear so long as they act within the law.
The Federal Court heard the action will not begin on Thursday as planned.
Mark Gibian SC, acting for the RTBU asked for the matter to be expedited on Wednesday.
"We would like a determination very quickly," he said.
"The union wishes to take the action it has notified ... it believes it is protected and legitimate industrial action," Mr Gibian said.
Harry Dixon SC, for Sydney Trains, says determining the matter will be complex and the evidence will be highly contested.
"It's a question of whether employees were entitled to turn off revenue sources at the gate," he said.
A case management hearing on Friday will attempt to move the matter forward, and the union has agreed not to deactivate Opal readers while the court case continues.
The union plan to deactivate Opal readers at train stations between 3pm and 7pm on weekdays, indefinitely, was to begin on Thursday.
The government announced it would sue the union and seek damages, alleging the action is illegal and dangerous, and that similar action taken earlier this year was illegal too.
The dispute is due back in the Fair Work Commission on Thursday morning.
The union and government are locked in a protracted stoush over a new enterprise agreement, and are also at loggerheads over a Korean-built fleet of intercity trains, in storage since 2019.
The union argues the trains are not safe to operate in NSW yet while the government insists they are.
The dispute between the government and rail union has gone on too long, Labor leader Chris Minns says, blaming a change in approach to unions since Mr Perrottet became premier.
"It's lawyers at 20 paces and I think the commuters miss out, so let's get an agreement," Mr Minns said.
Australian Associated Press
