The Electrical Trades Union is taking Stanwell to court over its decision to re-start its two mothballed power generating units at Tarong

February 11, 2014

The Electrical Trades Union announced today it is challenging in court the decision by Stanwell to restart its two mothballed power generating units at Tarong.

The ETU has launched proceedings in the Federal Court, seeking injunctions against Stanwell and penalties, claiming the company has failed to consult with employees about the decision to close the gas-fired Swanbank E power station or to re-start the Tarong units.

ETU State Secretary Peter Simpson said he believed Stanwell had failed to comply with requirements to consult and pointed to the fact that the decision re Swanbank had meant the axing of 33 jobs while the re-commissioning of Tarong’s units would not create one full-time job.

“The actions of Stanwell are not dissimilar to the case against QR back in 2010 where the then-GOC faced massive fines and adverse publicity over its failure to consult,” Mr Simpson said.

“The union has taken this course of action to ensure that the voice of the members is heard in this process, we will not stand back and let companies like Stanwell run roughshod over the rights of its workers.

“We believe we have a strong case because the company are failing to adhere to the rights of its employees to be consulted and are treating them like slaves.

“There will be a massive increase in workload at Tarong and not one extra full-time position employed.”

A Stanwell spokesman said this afternoon that the corporation was confident it had met all of its requirements under the Swanbank and Tarong Enterprise Agreements with regards to employee consultation.

However, as the matter was before the courts, it was inappropriate for Stanwell to comment further.

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