The NSW government has won its battle to stop a statewide 24-hour train strike from going ahead on Monday.
Fair Work Commission senior deputy president Jonathan Hamberger on Thursday accepted its application to suspend the protected industrial action - including a ban on overtime work - for six weeks.
A statement from the commission said "suspension of protected industrial action by employees of Sydney Trains and NSW Trains - industrial action is threatening to endanger the welfare of part of the population - industrial action is threatening to cause significant damage to the Australian economy or an important part of it".
"I have decided to make an order suspending or termination the protected industrial action," the statement read.
"I have decided that it would be appropriate to suspend the industrial action for a period of six weeks from 6:00pm today, ending at 6:00pm on Thursday 8 March 2018."
More than 9000 rail workers had planned to stop work from midnight on Monday over a dispute with management about pay and conditions, which would have forced the closure of all train stations and cancellation of services in Sydney and across NSW
The Rail, Bus and Train Union's Alex Claassens said workers would respect FWC's decision but admitted it reduced their bargaining power.
"We have to respect the process. We are a law-abiding union. We've always followed the rules, and we will continue to do that," he said on Thursday.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said their position had been 'vindicated'.
"This is a huge relief. The government's intention always - from the outset when the unions made their position clear - was that we wanted to avoid inconvenience to customers," she said.
"We wanted to make sure that the customers not only avoided inconvenience but also had certainty about rail services into the future.
"I urge the union to act in the interests of the public, work with Sydney Trains management and government moving forward, to ensure that their members - their union members, the workers - have the opportunity to consider the fair and reasonable agreement."
