The train tea this year has been pipin’ hot, like it’s gotten to the point where I don’t need MAFS when I’ve got Transport Minister David Elliot vs. NSW Rail, Tram, and Bus Union.
According to The Guardian, the NSW Government has apparently claimed it will start offering completely free Friday fares for one whole year as argued for by the Union to make amends for the horrific train delays caused to EVERYONE on the 21st of February, but ONLY if NSW transport workers do not strike.
It seems all well and good but Union Secretary Alex Claassens is fighting for the people;
“You can’t just shut down a railway with no notice whatsoever, falsely accuse workers of being behind it, and then hope everyone just forgets about it,” Claassens said on Tuesday according to the publication.
“The NSW government said it would look into giving commuters free rail travel as a way of saying sorry for their appalling actions, but since then we’ve heard nothing.
“Giving commuters free trips as compensation for the huge inconvenience the government caused them is the absolute least people deserve.”
aand I’m not sure who David Elliot is fighting, but it seems like it’s the working man.
“I note the union movement today has said, ‘well if you give fare-free Fridays from now until June we won’t strike on Friday.’ Well, I’m going to up the ante,” he said.
“I’m saying to the union movement: if you promise not to strike for another year, I’ll give fare-free Fridays for a full year.
So it sounds like the state government CAN afford to give the public free-Fridays for at least a full year, so why should it be taunted to the public and the union as a prize when they’re the reason trains were shut down for a whole day causing absolutely disaster across the city?
To put the icing on the cake, Elliot has also threatened that if the union persists, the state ‘couldn’t guarantee’ that trains won’t be shut down again on Monday.
So there you guys go, I would avoid catching trains this Monday, but catch A LOT of trains every free-Friday we might possibly get in the future!
