The Fair Work Commission has ruled that recent industrial action by the state's Electrical Union endangered lives and the community during last month's extreme weather. Despite the findings, the union has rejected the claims, remaining firm in its fight for a better pay deal from TasNetworks.
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00:00Interstate!
00:03On the lawns of Parliament House, union members are demanding pay parity with their interstate
00:08counterparts.
00:09Same job, same pay, not a backward step, not now, not ever.
00:15Their protest is part of a bitter industrial dispute that was put on pause last month after
00:21Tas Networks declared an impending emergency ahead of an unprecedented weather event.
00:27We need to make sure that we can put our network in the best position possible.
00:31The severe weather left tens of thousands of Tasmanians without power for days.
00:36But according to the Fair Work Commission, some union members continued their industrial
00:41action by temporarily refusing to restore power to some life support customers, fix
00:47fallen transmission lines at New Norfolk, or reconnect electricity to a major mine and
00:53two wind farms in the state's northwest.
00:56The Commission finding such actions threatened to endanger life or the welfare of the population
01:02or of part of it.
01:03To then try to weaponise that for your own benefit in a period of emergency where a lot
01:11of vulnerable Tasmanians are clearly at risk is something that is untasmanian.
01:18They were grossly exaggerated and if they were examined closely then it was clear that
01:25no lives were put in danger at all.
01:27Tas Networks has promised staff a 14% pay rise over three years plus a $6,000 sign-on
01:34bonus.
01:35But the union says it's not good enough and it's urging workers to reject the offer when
01:40it goes to a vote next week.