Energy & Water

The ASU recently lodged a submission to the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding with a focus on alerting the Inquiry to the critical role local government plays in both preventing natural disasters and managing them when they do occur. ASU members working for councils are amongst the first…

Last week ASU electricity industry delegates and union Branch officials from all over Australia met in Sydney to discuss a broad range of issues facing the industry. The meeting brought together delegates from generation, transmission and distribution with a range of ASU classifications from operators to technical officers, administrative staff…

Thousands of workers that tirelessly run the NSW electricity network woke this morning to an unprecedented attack from their own management, with veiled threats that they face a choice between cuts to their wages and conditions, or mass outsourcing of jobs. Read this item on the Branch website here and…

Both Queensland and New South Wales are embarking on a road that may lead to electricity privatisation, but those states should heed the lessons learned by their southern neighbours who tread that path nearly 20 years ago. We know from bitter experience that "competition" in electricity does not result in…

Watch Senator Sam Dastyari taking aim at the NSW Liberal/National Coalition on the sale of the poles and wires that belong to all of the people of NSW. We need more like people like Sam to call it as it is. >>> Read this news item on the NSW US…

Claims that the privatisation of the NSW electricity network could deliver $30 billion for infrastructure projects contradict the government's own figures and are part of a deliberate attempt to trick NSW voters, according to the Stop the Sell Off campaign. A Sydney newspaper has reported that a sale of the…

In last night’s Budget the Federal Government tried to sweeten the state government pot. The formula to top up state assets with resources obtained from the privatisation of Medibank, recently discussed between state governments and the Commonwealth, might sound a good idea, but it will have a negative effect on…

The decision in the long running battle of scope was handed down last week by His Honour, Senior Deputy President Hamberger in a massive win for the Unions and its collective members. >>> Read the news item on the NSW US Branch website here His Honour has found that the…

  The Australian Services Union's global affiliate Public Services International (PSI) has today released a new report that reveals secret trade negotiations may threaten public services across the globe, including in Australia. The ASU, as the principal union in local government and utilities (water & energy) is alarmed at findings…

As privatisation looms as the Abbott Government's preferred method of reducing debt, the ASU and others are using submissions to inquiries and reviews to highlight the failures of this approach. Our submission to the Federal Government which is preparing an Energy White Paper continues this focus. The ASU has campaigned…