The Sydney Train Strike Is Cancelled And People Are Furious About Worker’s Rights

    "There's no longer a right to strike in Australia."

    Brad Esposito
    by Brad Esposito

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

    Thursday's announcement that Australia's Fair Work Commission had directed the NSW train union to cancel its 24-hour strike on Monday has been met with outrage on social media.

    Sky News

    The union accepted the ruling, which saw the planned strike suspended for six weeks.

    New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon that the government "wanted to make sure that customers avoided inconvenience".

    "What the unions negotiated with Sydney Trains was a fair and reasonable agreement," she said. "I'm absolutely convinced that what was on the table is extremely fair. The customer is at the heart of everything we do in government."

    Berejiklian was joined by NSW minister for transport Andrew Constance, who said the government was prepared to negotiate in good faith "in the interest of customers".

    "Our customers are not cannon fodder for industrial action," he said.

    But on Twitter, dozens of people were devastated with the result, saying it signified the end of the right to strike in Australia.

    Jen @fury_jen

    Our city runs on people being FORCED to work overtime. fuck you if you think those people don’t deserve more. Fuck… https://t.co/7DFRBuOV3p

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    Sally McManus @sallymcmanus

    The right to strike in Australia is close to being dead. Rail workers follow every single rule & law and still the… https://t.co/Q2kWfogDX1

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    thomas violence @thomas_violence

    hey fair work commission, how about you "commission" eating my ass. i'm busy so i didnt have time to come up with something better than this

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    Jeff Sparrow @Jeff_Sparrow

    There’s no longer a right to strike in Australia. Almost all of the historically significant strikes would have bee… https://t.co/jqiU6s54Sw

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    The AMWU @theamwu

    This is frightening. The right to strike is not adequately protected by the Fair Work Act. It's time to change the… https://t.co/ytXnwhAxuM

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    _robcorr @_robcorr

    If rail workers can’t even strike for a single day, the right to strike doesn’t really exist in Australia. What a fucking joke.

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    (Joyridw @donjoyride

    Let em strike ya dogs

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    Josh Butler @JoshButler

    cool, so strikes are only allowed when there is absolutely no effect to anybody else, thus rendering the entire poi… https://t.co/kkotBuHh6z

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    Ben Eltham @beneltham

    With this Fair Work Commission decision, we can definitively conclude: there is no right to strike in Australia

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    At this point, it looks like Sydneysiders can plan the Monday morning commute as per usual.

    men dont @ me @lizduckchong

    mm, i sure prefer it when the drivers of the 45.5 ton piece of metal able to go 130km/h are unable to get enough sleep between shifts.

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