Thirty-six Essential Energy workers from across NSW including two from Dubbo and one from Wellington have been made redundant just weeks out from Christmas, according to the United Services Union.
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USU general secretary Graeme Kelly said it was the first of 600 redundancies that were planned by Essential by 2018 after the Fair Work Commission’s Workplace Determination was handed down.
““How incredibly insensitive and out of touch can management at Essential Energy be if they think that it is acceptable behaviour to ring workers just weeks before Christmas to tell them that - despite years of loyal service - they’ve no longer got a job,” Mr Kelly said.
“Workers at this publicly-owned company are still in shock that management was granted approval last month to axe 600 jobs by 2018, and up to 1000 more in 2019, but that emotion is turning to anger as they see the heartless way colleagues are being treated when they are notified of their termination.”
However Essential Energy CEO John Cleland said at the time the Fair Work decision was delivered, the company had 31 “redeployees” who had “remained employed without a substantive role for more than 12 months”.
He said the ruling “directed that redeployees had the option to leave the business in the next four weeks and receive up to 72 weeks’ payment plus entitlements, or stay on and continue to be paid for the next six months with an option to take a maximum 44-week exit payment at any time.”
Mr Cleland said 10 senior contract managers and eight employees under a separate Enterprise Agreement had been made redundant as “part of ongoing reforms”.
Mr Kelly said positions that were being made redundant included electrical technicians, powerline workers, operations managers, senior customer service staff, meter readers and engineers.
Essential Energy had a number of programs available to assist employees including counselling, “ongoing mental health awareness programs and partnerships with BeyondBlue and R U OK? Day”, Mr Cleland said.