SYDNEY, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Transport union representatives in Australia's New South Wales have warned train commuters to be prepared to stay at home ahead of a planned strike, following the breakdown of wage negotiations and major rail disruptions in state capital Sydney, local media reported on Wednesday.
Commuters should stay at home on Jan. 29, when many students are also set to return to school from the summer holidays, if "worse comes to worst," the ABC News channel quoted Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens as saying.
The union has been pushing for a 6-percent annual pay rise for its members instead of the 2.5-percent increase offered by the authorities.
The warning by the union comes a week after major train delays and widespread trip cancellations hit Sydney, where authorities blamed bad weather and staffing issues for the transport chaos.
The planned strike should be called off and the union should "act in the interests of customers and put commuters first," State Transport Minister Andrew Constance was quoted as saying.
"Don't play with the livelihoods of Sydney and New South Wales trains customers. And more to the point, don't play with the livelihoods of the train drivers. The drivers themselves are going to be hit in the ... pocket, as a result of the overtime being taken away," he said on the news channel.
