Melbourne train strike: Drivers to walk off the job for four hours
Melbourne's trains will stop for four hours later this month as the rail union escalates its fight against Metro Trains for better pay.
Train drivers will walk off the job between 10am and 2pm on Tuesday, August 27, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union says.
But Metro Trains has put the brakes on the union’s plans to keep ticket barriers open and not check mykis on the next two Mondays amid the bitter pay dispute.
The union lost a battle in the Federal Court on Friday afternoon when Justice John Snaden ruled in favour of a Metro Trains injunction.
Commuters will have to touch on their myki cards on Monday as a result.
Justice Snaden ruled that the union must notify the public that the industrial action has been withdrawn and commuters will not travel for free on Monday, August 12 or Monday, August 19.
However, it is understood train drivers and Metro staff will refuse to wear uniforms or perform last-minute changes to services as they continue their fight for a 6 per cent wage rise over the next three years.
Metro launched the 11th-hour bid for an injunction in the Federal Court on Friday morning, where the company argued the union's plans to keep ticket barriers open would hit the train operator on one of its busiest days.
The company said that in terms of revenue, Monday is its "highest day".
The network carries more than 820,000 commuters on an average weekday.
"Myki revenue makes up a very substantial portion of Metro Trains Melbourne's revenue and Monday is the highest day," said Frank Parry, QC, the barrister representing Metro.
Mr Parry said the union had pushed a misleading public campaign suggesting that "Monday is a free ride day".
The travelling public was always legally required to travel with valid tickets, Mr Parry said.
As the dispute played out in court, the union announced drivers would walk off the job for four hours later in the month.
The barrister representing the union, Malcolm Harding, rebuffed suggestions the union had promised a free travel day to commuters.
Mr Harding argued that a union media release, which claimed the industrial action would be a "win" for commuters, was not the same as promising passengers free rides.
"[The] RTBU is not responsible for how the media report things," he said.
However Federal Court judge John Snaden questioned this, saying: "I accept that it doesn't say people should not pay for their rides ... but the media reaction is much the same as mine."
The union's state secretary Luba Grigorovitch said the court action was an attempt to intimidate workers.
"Our members are entitled to be treated fairly and have reached a point where they have been forced to take industrial action," she said.
"For Metro to run to the Federal Court at the 11th-hour to try to strip our members of their rights is indicative of how they have handled themselves in negotiations.
"Commuters need to know that their public transport workers are only doing what they feel they need to do to make their point."