FWA urged to stop Hastie stand-down

28 May 2012, 7:40 pm   -   Source: AAP

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has applied to the industrial umpire to reverse the stand-down of more than 300 workers caught up in Hastie Group's collapse.

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The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has applied to the industrial umpire to reverse the stand-down of more than 300 workers caught up in Hastie Group's collapse.

The workers at Watters Electrical have been stood down without pay for 28 days after Hastie Group went into voluntary administration.

The ETU's Victorian branch made an application to Fair Work Australia (FWA) on Monday to reverse administrator PPB Advisory's decision to stand down the Watters electrical workers.

"The administrator has committed an act of corporate bastardry to our members at Watters by keeping them notionally employed but in reality having them stood down without pay," ETU Victorian branch secretary Dean Mighell said in a statement.

The move was a "cheap stunt" that would leave workers in limbo, denying them the ability to register for unemployment benefits or to access their own redundancy funds as they were still employed, Mr Mighell said.

He said many ETU electricians employed by Hastie were on a rostered day off on Monday and received news via text they would be stood down during the period of administration.

PPB spokesman Scott Hinton told AAP the company had not told employees of Hastie's administration and the ensuing stand-downs via text but that it had asked workers at up to 1200 work sites to attend face-to-face meetings, where the news was delivered.

Up to 2700 jobs across Australia are under threat, with Hastie's mechanical, electrical and plumbing businesses all suspending their operations as a result of the company's collapse under an estimated $500 million debt.

The more than 300 Watters workers are to meet at the ETU's Melbourne headquarters on Tuesday.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) said there had been "a messy picture at many workplaces" on Monday as administrators made decisions about immediate operations and future prospects.

"Workers at some sites were immediately stood down, while at other sites business is continuing as new buyers are sought," the AMWU's NSW secretary Tim Ayres said.

In Sydney, workers at Optimus in Auburn - a supplier of sheet metal to the construction industry - were sent home and told production would cease. Meanwhile at Glendenning, workers at Austral Refrigeration - a supplier of refrigeration units to businesses - were told operations would continue as usual while new buyers were sought.

At M&H Air in Newcastle, workers were told they would be stood down for a month without pay.

Hastie

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