December 16, 2014
Electrical Trades Union and The Services Union members at Ergon and Energex have joined their colleagues at Powerlink in voting against accepting a proposed Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
ETU spokesman Stuart Traill said the 70 per cent “No” vote at Powerlink on Friday was followed by a 64 per cent “No” vote at Energex and a 72 per cent rejection at Ergon.
“We are proud that our members and their colleagues at the TSU and Professionals Australia across these companies put the future of their industry and future employees before their own immediate needs,” Mr Traill said.
The Services Union secretary Neil Henderson said the voices of employees at Ergon, Energex and Powerlink had been heard.
“Employees have made it very clear, they will not accept anything less than ongoing job security, they want genuine consultation on major changes, and they want to maintain their existing conditions,” he said.
“They have also made it clear they do not want a temporary workforce. They have seen straight through the State Government’s so-called Strong Choices Campaign; employees know that a so-called ‘lease’ means privatisation.”
Mr Traill said it was now up to their respective managers to listen and come back to the table and “genuinely negotiate”.
“The assertion that a No vote will result in a clean slate is utter rubbish we are more than happy to sit down and nut out an agreement we can all live with.
“The ball, as they say, is in their court,” he said.
Mr Traill said the unions initially offered roll-over agreements that included a 0 per cent pay increase in return for no loss of conditions.
“These results have nothing to do with money and they never did,” he said.
“We have long argued that in the current climate, given that all three companies are in the gun for privatisation if the LNP win the State election which is due within months, we should look to roll over current conditions for a period of time until workers know what their future looks like.”
Related articles:
- Powerlink Workers Reject EBA
- Electricity Unions Seek ‘Rollover’ Of Agreements
- Job Security Carrot Offered To Power Workers
