The Electrical Trades Union says Ergon Energy has cut 17 jobs in the Wide Bay Burnett region in the latest round of redundancies at the government-owned corporation.
A total of 33 workers from the Bundaberg, Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Toowoomba, Cairns, Townsville and Mackay areas will be affected, the union said today.
The positions are either being privatised to contractors or centralised to Rockhampton.
“The centralisation will see massive impacts across the State if and when Rockhampton is impacted by a major storm event,” the union said.
“If the proposed Rockhampton dispatch centre is shut down as a result, the whole of Ergon will not have vital restoration work dispatched to emergency response field crews.”
The ETU has labelled the move a “betrayal of regional Queensland” and part of the State Government’s “privatisation by stealth” agenda.
The union’s Electrical Supply Industry co-ordinator Stuart Traill said the actions would put stress on an already demoralised and under staffed sector, and would inevitably increase response times.
“The redundancies will take the total jobs slashed across the public-owned electricity sector to a shameful 1690 since March 2012.”
