The New South Wales government is making a last-ditch effort to stop a 24-hour rail strike on Monday as commuters already start facing disruption from a limited train service.

The state government late on Wednesday launched legal proceedings in the Fair Work Commission to stop the strike scheduled for Monday and an indefinite ban on overtime work.

The application was adjourned until Thursday morning, just as the first disruptions of the overtime ban begin to hit the system.

Services on Thursday and Australia Day on Friday will be cut by nearly half, with trains operating on a Saturday schedule.

Commuters have been warned to avoid peak hour travel and to stay home if possible.

No trains will run across NSW on Monday and all stations will be closed if the 24-hour strike goes ahead.

A poll by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) – labelled “illegitimate” by the NSW transport minister, Andrew Constance – asked members via text message whether they wanted to accept the latest pay package from management.

More than 6,100 text messages were sent to union members asking whether a 2.75% pay increase as part of a package that also includes free bus travel and a one-off $1,000 payment was good enough.

Workers were required to reply yes to call off the strike – a non-reply was counted as a no vote.

Only 5.93% – about 360 workers – responded in favour of suspending industrial action.

Just “a couple of people” said no, according to the secretary of the RTBU NSW, Alex Claassens, prompting questions over the poll’s validity.

Constance criticised the union’s SMS voting method and made an 11th-hour bid at the Fair Work Commission to prevent the strike.

Harmers Workplace Lawyers lodged a separate application on Tuesday to suspend the industrial action saying the union leadership was at risk of a class action by having “misled their members”.

“By not fully explaining to their members that if the strike is found by the court not to be ‘protected’ under the legislation, then companies and individuals who suffer economic loss as a result of the industrial action could sue as a class,” they said in a statement.

The applications were due to be heard jointly at 8am on Thursday in the Fair Work Commission in Sydney.



