USU Push to Protect Power Industry

Date: 09 September 2003

The principle Electricity Union in Australia, the ASU, is concerned at the reduction in full time jobs in the Generation Sector. According to United Services Union General Secretary Brian Harris these jobs are being outsourced and replaced by contractors, all driven by the National Electricity Market.

"The Government had a clear mandate from the people of NSW not to privatise the industry, yet the current staff numbers are being reduced by 50% every 5 years and the ageing workforce is not being replaced with new younger staff. This means that expertise is not being passed on," said Brian Harris.

"The industry's long term planning and view for stable electricity has gone out the window, caught up in the national market hype. This is particularly true with the sale of Pacific Power International and the dissolution of Pacific Power, the main engineering arm that was developed by the industry over 50 years."

"In 1989/90 the generation industry (Pacific Power) employed 7,283 staff. In 1995/96, after disaggregation, it was 3,503. The three main generation companies operating in NSW now employ 1,735 with a downward trend. These reductions are unacceptable and will not support the long term reliability of supply the industry needs and the NSW public expect."

The USU is calling on the Government to halt and investigate this decline before it is too late. "We must maintain and increase generation staff levels before we start having plant failures and blackouts similar to those occurring at an alarming rate in the distribution sector," Brian Harris said.

Power Plants are not built overnight; they take some lead-time to plan and build. Given the age of the current power stations and the projected shortages this is a major concern.

"The Government must have contingencies in place to deal with these issues, the USU will be pursuing direct discussions with the Government to protect jobs in the generation sector in NSW."

Job reductions in this sector cannot continue.

For further information

Contact:	Brian Harris
Union:	Municipal Employees Union
Phone:	(02) 9265 8211
Email:	united@usu.org.au
WWW:	http://www.usu.org.au

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