"It's not like talks have broken down," he complained.

Andrews has a point. The decision by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union to plunge the transport network into strike-induced chaos on a cold, wet Thursday did seem premature, with the union and Yarra Trams scheduled to continue talks on Friday morning.

And to many Victorians, Yarra Trams' pay offer – worth about 15 per cent over four years – would probably seem pretty reasonable, even generous in the economic climate.

Indeed, wage growth has been relatively modest. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, average hourly pay rates (excluding bonuses) in Victoria crept up by 2.6 per cent over the year to June. That was above the national average, but still low by historical standards.

But more to the point, Andrews had thrown his government head-first into industrial talks between a union and a private company that – technically at least – had little to do with his government.

Clearly he wanted to show himself as a modern Labor leader, with the capacity to bridge the divide between business and unions to achieve a sensible outcome. By entering the industrial ring to participate in the bout, Andrews had taken a risk. In this case, it did not pay off.

No wonder he was annoyed, dismissing the union's industrial demands as out of step with community attitudes. Nor is Andrews ruling out joining legal action with the public transport companies to prevent further strike action.

Part of the problem faced by Labor is that pay expectations are at a heightened level, with a generous pay deal given to paramedics being used as an industrial template. The Health Workers Union, for example, wants a 20 per cent pay rise over four years.

The Police Association also appears to be preparing the ground for a bold pay claim, with a slick advertising campaign highlighting the difficult work undertaken by police.

The trouble is, such play claims are inevitably expensive. State treasury is understood to have estimated that every 1 per cent increase in police pay costs about $12 million, including on-costs. For nurses, the hit to the budget from a 1 per cent pay increase is more like $30 million.

Trying to bridge the divide between unions and business is a difficult job, as Andrews discovered on Thursday.