{"id":92067,"date":"2014-12-12T14:12:19","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T04:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=92067"},"modified":"2020-08-20T17:55:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T07:55:41","slug":"powerlink-workers-reject-eba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/12\/12\/powerlink-workers-reject-eba\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerlink Workers Reject EBA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stuart<\/a>
ETU Organiser Stuart Traill (Photo: CairnsBlog.Net)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 12, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Electrical Trades Union and The Services Union have praised Powerlink workers for rejecting a proposed Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.<\/p>\n

ETU spokesman Stuart Traill said the close to 70 per cent “No” vote was “a massive blood nose” for Powerlink and showed that workers had “seen through” political interference.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne down two to go,” Mr Traill said.<\/p>\n

“We are proud that our members and their colleagues at the TSU and Professionals Australia across Powerlink put the future of their industry and future employees before their own immediate needs.<\/p>\n

“They understood the government cannot be trusted to keep their word. They have the government\u2019s myriad of broken promises seared in their memories.<\/p>\n

“In voting ‘No’ they stood strong against an unprecedented management campaign that included phone calls to family homes outside of work hours, relentless text messages and internal propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Traill said workers had seen through the offered one-off job security clause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were offering nothing our members didn\u2019t already have, in fact the proposal was worse it took away job security for future employees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Traill said workers were adamant it was now up to Powerlink management to come back to the table and negotiate around the outstanding issues.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He rejected the notion that a ‘No’ vote meant it was back to square one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe assertion that a No vote will result in a clean slate is like saying Powerlink don\u2019t like the result at half-time so they\u2019ll take the ball home and not play,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We are more than happy to sit down and nut out an agreement we can all live with, the ball as they say is now in Powerlink\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the vote had nothing to do with money; the unions had initially offered a roll-over agreement that included a 0 per cent pay rise in return for no loss of conditions.<\/p>\n

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