While it has been a long and hard road for you all, on the 28th February we had a victory with the NSW Energy Minister Matt Keen publishing the directions (download here) for the Board of Essential Energy to give effect to the NSW Government announcement made on 20th August 2019.
In essence, the direction requires that Essential Energy is directed to not terminate the employment of any employee whose role is based in regional NSW where the termination is on the grounds of redundancy.
The directions also state that when conducting recruitment or engaging contractors, Essential Energy is to use its best endeavours to employ or contract people in regional NSW in which there has been a net loss of roles since 2nd July 2019 as a result of the proposed reduction of 182 Essential Energy roles announced on that day.
The USU hopes that the published directions go some way to providing a level of comfort to members impacted by the redundancies announced in July last year. While it has taken a significant amount of time to be published, it will assist the unions in our fight to have these directions continued beyond August 20 this year.
Continuing the fight
The Energy Unions have vowed to continue to fight for job security and will continue to meet with Essential Energy Executive Management and the NSW State Government to discuss job savings measures to assist our members in having some level of job security. This is extremely important to us to continue this fight.
We will also continue to update you and meet with you to discuss any concerns that you may be experiencing, and we will continue to advocate for you in this regard.
Over the past year, we achieved a lot for our members following the announcements through consultation with Management, with the most recent being the announcement by your CEO for providing recruitment opportunities for essential employees internally before advertising externally for jobs. We advocated strongly for this so that recruitment opportunities could be provided for members who felt vulnerable in their current positions as a result of their announcements last year.
We also wanted to allow for career pathways for members wishing to explore other avenues within Essential Energy. As a result, we have already seen members taking up these opportunities and being successful in their applications.
We will continue to consult with Management in order to provide better conditions for members.
If you have any questions regarding the directions or any other matter please contact your union delegate on the list below or your organiser Northern, North West and Central West Melissa Pond mpond@usu.org.au or Southern Mick Jones mjones@usu.org.au
If you are not a member and wish to join you can do so by speaking with one of your Union delegates or by going to our website usu.org.au/join
Buller Street
Delegate Daniel Welsh – Daniel.Welsh@essentialenergy.com.au
Delegate Judy Cutler – Judy.Cutler@essentialenergy.com.au
Hindman Street
Delegate Ruth Smallwood – Ruth.Smallwood@essentialenergy.com.au
Bathurst
Delegate Karen Inwood – Karen.Inwood@essentialenergy.com.au
Mudgee
Delegate Leanne New – Leanne.New@essentialenergy.com.au
Riverina
Delegate Jason Bartlett – Jason.Bartlett@essentialenergy.com.au
Broken Hill
Delegate Mark Lenton – Mark.Lenton@essentialenergy.com.au
