Ahead of the disruptions due to maintenance expected throughout April, Queenslanders will also face a union strike on Wednesday, April 1.
Although the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) had only planned for coal and freight train services to be affected, employees are not actually allowed to dictate the terms of industrial action, so Queensland Rail extended the strike to passenger trains, warning workers that if they won’t perform all duties, they won’t get paid.
For this reason, RTBU now estimates that around 200 workers — including some responsible for network control, service coordination and responding to incidents —will not be working on April 1.
As the RTBU put it in a Facebook post, “There is no strike action, and our members are ready to work tomorrow to keep trains running and get people to work and school.”
This will mean trains cancelled from Darra to Rosewood on the Ipswich/Rosewood line, and from Central to Cleveland, as you can see on Translink. Queensland Rail is currently working to establish weekend service schedules on the affected lines, and urges commuters to check their routes before travelling on Wednesday.
The situation stems from protracted salary negotiations that have been ongoing since January, as there are six separate enterprise agreements to be updated, covering over 5,000 workers.
As of now, Queensland Rail can’t rule out further travel impacts on Thursday, and urges passengers to stay updated on the changing services as the strike and negotiations evolve.
