Your union met with representatives of Ausgrid last Wednesday (8 May) to discuss the Final AER Determination and the impacts it has on roles in Ausgrid.
As per previous advice, Ausgrid still weren’t in a position to advise us as to the impacts as far as job numbers or time-frames go – they did advise, however, that the Executive Leadership Team (‘ELT’) would be in a position to advise once they have completed a business plan for the regulatory period; the completion of this business plan is expected to be in the next few weeks.
There was a proposal put to us around the formation of a Peak Consultative Committee (‘PCC’) sub-committee, comprising up to 12 delegates (total) from the combined unions, with a view to meeting over a 12 week time-frame to discuss the process/es around EoIs for voluntary redundancy.
From there, the consultation would shift to enterprise and then divisional level. These discussion levels would also contain representatives of the combined unions.
The USU views the proposed time-frame for consultation as ambitious, at best. We do not believe the proposed time-frame for consultation will allow the parties to fully explore and consider all options and scenarios with regards to business change; the USU has a reasonable expectation that the views of its members will be given their due consideration prior to any final decisions being made.
The USU also has a very real concern about the impacts a reduction in the workforce will have on the reliability of the Ausgrid network, a network that is already struggling to keep up with demand with its current staffing levels. In short, mitigation against job losses and network reliability will be our key focus and we welcome member input in that regard.
We will keep members advised as the matters progress.
If you have any questions, please contact your local delegate or Organisers Troy Dunne (Metro) on 0419 403 076 or tdunne@usu.org.au or Paul Sansom (Hunter/Newcastle) on 0409 076 633 or psansom@usu.org.au
