Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks have been saved after an eleventh-hour deal between rail unions and the NSW government.
Revelers were concerned about the looming cancellation of the fireworks display due to train strikes amid an ongoing wage battle.
A Christmas Eve hearing spiraled out of control on Tuesday morning, with the Fair Work Commission agreeing the union had dropped enough action to cause negligible risk to New Year’s celebrations.
Despite threatened action over the holiday period, the union’s NSW branch lifted eight major work bans late on Monday.
A lawyer for Sydney Trains requested a private half-hour meeting with the parties at the hearing before the industrial referee on Monday, saying there had been “encouraging discussions” overnight.
The media and public were removed while the parties deliberated.
The commission returned at 10am and the matter appeared to have been resolved without much interference from Fair Work Commission vice-president Bryce Cross.
The union agreed to drop a solidarity action and another action by the Electrical Union to ensure public safety during the holidays.
RTBU NSW Branch Secretary Toby Warnes (centre) and the NSW Government reached an agreement on Tuesday
The union had branded the last-minute changes as necessary to ward off actions that would “effectively crush” its bargaining strategy.
It means New Year’s Eve revelers and the businesses that depend on them will no longer have to wait anxiously for the industrial umpire’s call on potentially crippling train delays and cancellations.
Pub and bar operators, a casino and the NSW Labor government planned to argue on Tuesday that the work ban for machinists, scheduled for the New Year, would cause significant harm to third parties and potentially endanger lives.
The hearing at the committee comes after NSW Police warned of “serious safety concerns” if a million people expected to line Sydney Harbor on New Year’s Eve struggled to leave after the midnight fireworks.
Organizers say the fireworks will be viewed by another 400 million people worldwide.
The event provides an economic benefit of approximately $280 million to the city.
New Year’s Eve is also the busiest day on Australia’s largest rail network, with people rarely commuting all night across the state.
About 3,200 services run approximately every five minutes throughout the day, with things becoming difficult an hour after midnight when the masses try to leave together.
New Year’s Eve trains in Sydney will run all night after rail unions and the NSW government reached an agreement
The union and the government have parted ways after seven months of wage negotiations.
Workers continue to demand four annual pay rises of eight per cent, but Prime Minister Chris Minns has said this is unaffordable and cannot happen while denying nurses an equally expensive claim.
The state government has offered 11 percent over three years, including increases in pension benefits.
The story could continue for several more months.
The Fair Work Commission cannot be asked to settle the substantive dispute – pay and employment conditions – until February.