By Casey Neill
Electrical workers at Bangholme’s Eastern Treatment Plant are on strike and picketing the site over wages and conditions.
Electrical Trades Union (ETU) organiser Danny Timmers said enterprise agreement negotiations with contractor Wood Group PSN started a couple of months ago.
“The agreement covers approximately 60 employees at the Eastern Treatment Plant, Western Treatment Plant and Winneke Treatment Plant, which is up at Sugarloaf Reservoir,” he said.
“We’ve been to the industrial relations commission with the company trying to reach agreement.
“It hasn’t progressed. Our agreement has expired.
“The guys are wanting to keep what they’ve got and improve it.”
Mr Timmers said there were about 20 ETU members at the Alan Bird Drive site and that they had been striking since early April.
“They’ve taken stoppages,” he said.
“That’s part of the process, I suppose, being out the front.
“You’ll see them there on a fairly regular basis.”
Mr Timmers said some major stoppages were scheduled for early May “which will be very substantial, if we can’t resolve it before then”.
A Wood Group spokesperson said: “We are continuing to proactively engage with our employees and union representatives and are committed to negotiating a mutually beneficial outcome, which enhances productivity and ensures a safe and sustainable future for our employees and the business.”
