NSW road workers to strike tomorrow after initial action was blocked

Road workers, construction crews and other Transport for NSW workers will strike for the first time this century tomorrow due to anger over the NSW Government's insistence on an effective pay cut. Transport for NSW workers will walk off the job from 6am on Thursday and not resume work again until 6am Friday. The workers, spread across 69 depots throughout the state, will gather outside the front gates of major depots at 9am, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge depot and Civic Park in Newcastle. Plans to strike earlier in the month (7/7) were cancelled at the last minute, when the NSW Industrial Relations Commission issued orders to the workers to halt industrial action for a fortnight, because their work was deemed essential. However with that period now expired, the planned strike action will take place tomorrow. "These workers don't take action lightly. They haven't been on strike in decades. The reason they are persisting this time is that they just can't cop a pay cut," said Australian Workers' Union NSW Branch Vice President Cameron Wright. "These are the men and women worked who have gone out there during bushfires and freak floods to keep New South Wales moving. "During the pandemic they put on their work gear and went out into an uncertain world while the rest of us were locked down. "They don't deserve a pay cut. If Dominic Perrottet and his government don't sit down and negotiate something more reasonable then we're going to see a lot more strike action than this." Unions have given TfNSW management a commitment members will make themselves available to respond to genuine emergency situations to keep the general public safe.