Power outages force UTAS students out of Launceston accommodation after union strike delays fix

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Students at the University of Tasmania had to move accommodation after the electrical union refused to fix an ongoing power outage due to taking part in industrial action. More than 100 students were affected by the blackout.

Transcript

00:00A prolonged power outage closed this Launceston University campus for three days this week.

00:08It displaced campus residents and caused the on-site cafe to move to Newnham.

00:13Obviously there was some small losses initially.

00:19We were able to save a lot of stock being vigilant and getting in there early.

00:26The almost 36 hour long outage was extended by industrial action.

00:31The electrical union has stopped doing some work, including switching the power back on

00:35while it campaigns to be paid in line with mainland workers.

00:39Our members don't want to have to do this.

00:41This is a result of 20 years of wage suppression by the TasNetworks board.

00:47They have led us to this point.

00:48We are offering a good deal that supports and rewards our people better than ever before

00:54while protecting Tasmanians on power prices.

00:58Increasing by 35% is just not affordable, it's not feasible.

01:03Outages have left hundreds of customers without power today, with some facing longer waits.

01:08Union led disruption is delaying getting those people back so we ask for their forbearance

01:14but we must stand firm on this.

01:16A month ago when we said hey, this protected action could end up in outages that see blackouts

01:22in certain regions.

01:23We got laughed off, we got said that we were being ridiculous, that we were exaggerating

01:27and yet here we are.

01:28The union says its members won't back down until they receive pay parity.

01:33The Labor leader put some political pressure on TasNetworks to return to the bargaining

01:38table and end the dispute.

01:41The TasNetworks hasn't dealt in good faith with the workforce and I think they need to.

01:46A fight that shows no sign of ending, with businesses and households caught in the middle.

01:53For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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