• About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Events
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Contracts awarded
    • Open tenders and opportunities
    • Events
  • Features
  • Water
  • Wastewater
  • Gas
  • Electricity
  • Civil Construction
  • Events
No Results
View All Results
  • News
    • Contracts awarded
    • Open tenders and opportunities
    • Events
  • Features
  • Water
  • Wastewater
  • Gas
  • Electricity
  • Civil Construction
  • Events
No Results
View All Results
Home Electricity

Western Power prepares for CEPU strike impacts

by Utility Journalist
May 18, 2021
in Batteries & Storage, Company news, Electricity, News, People and appointments, Powerlines, Projects
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Western Power is preparing for the upcoming two-day stoppage on Thursday 20 May, in order to minimise the impacts on customers and the community across its network.

The strike has been called by the Communications, Electrical & Plumbing Union (CEPU), which formally advised Western Power that more than 800 employees covered by the CEPU enterprise agreement will cease work for 48 hours commencing from 5am on Thursday 20 May.

Western Power said its focus is ensuring that homes and businesses experience minimal power disruption by identifying all scheduled maintenance work that won’t go ahead as a result, and proactively advising affected customers.

A two-day strike means that Western Power will have to delay all work across metropolitan and regional communities normally undertaken by those employees covered under the CEPU EA.

Western Power Executive Manager Asset Operations, Sam Barbaro, said that while Western Power respects the rights of employees to take industrial action, the CEPU’s decision to hold a series of partial work bans and now a two-day stoppage was extremely disappointing.

“A two-day stoppage means that all maintenance work planned for Thursday and Friday must cease, and we are starting to advise our customers that we cannot complete their scheduled maintenance,” Mr Barbaro said. 

“We are also identifying how we can safely and effectively manage urgent fault repairs and outages across those days.

“The union has also issued a ban on all planned overtime and this will have a major impact on customers, as some of our work is planned out of hours to minimise disruptions to customers.

“Despite the CEPU’s claims that these are ‘light bans’, their actions are designed to be cumulatively disruptive, with partial work bans and a two-day strike resulting in significant impacts to our planned work.”

Mr Barbaro said rolling bans made it particularly hard for utilities to minimise interruptions because of how difficult they were to predict.

“Because of the nature of our business, we have to plan jobs several days, weeks and even months in advance,” Mr Barbaro said.

“So, even if the union were to agree the night before these outages not to proceed with their action, we’d be unable to proceed with maintenance currently scheduled for next Thursday and Friday.

“We believe that the CEPU’s demands are unreasonable and out of line with community expectations. 

“If we were to agree to their claims it would cost over $30 million a year and equate to an almost 40 per cent increase on the average annual wage of people covered under the CEPU agreement. 

“This represents a significant financial impost on our customers and the broader community.

“We remain open to further meetings with the union. We’ve accepted some of their claims and not asked for any changes to the enterprise agreement in return. 

“The remaining claims are unreasonable. Our position has always been consistent with the State Public Sector Wages Policy, which allows for an annual wage increase of $1,000 per employee.”

Western Power’s response to industrial action is being conducted in accordance with the Fair Work Act.

The utility said its response to date includes standing down and sending home employees involved in or impacted by the industrial action and who are unable to do their work for the day safely or effectively as planned.

The Act requires Western Power to dock employee pay where they participate in industrial action.

Related Posts

Image: Suprachai/stock.adobe.com

Taking the guesswork out of remote operations

by Katie Livingston
July 9, 2025

For Australian utilities, delayed visibility isn’t just an operational inconvenience – it carries environmental, financial and reputational risks.  It can...

Image: WIOA 

Join us at WIOA Newcastle 2025

by Katie Livingston
July 9, 2025

The 2025 Water Industry Operations Association (WIOA) New South Wales Conference and exhibition kicks off on 23 July 2025 –...

Image: AGIG

Hydrogen Park Gladstone officially powers up

by Katie Livingston
July 9, 2025

Australia’s first whole-of-city renewable hydrogen project has celebrated more than six months of successful operations, with Hydrogen Park Gladstone now officially...

Please login to join discussion

Read our magazine

Join our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.
Utility is the title of choice for decision makers at all levels of water and energy utilities, as well as other major players like consulting engineers and first-tier contractors. Utility is integrated across print and online, and explores the biggest news and issues across the utility industry. It is Australia’s only dedicated utility magazine, and covers all areas of the utility sector, including water and sewer, gas, electricity, communications and the NBN.

Subscribe to our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.

About Utility

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Digital magazine
  • Events
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Collection Notice
  • Privacy Policy

Popular Topics

  • News
  • Water
  • Electricity
  • Projects
  • Water and Wastewater Treatment
  • Spotlight
  • Civil Construction
  • Renewable Energy

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited

No Results
View All Results
NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Contracts awarded
    • Open tenders and opportunities
    • Events
  • Features
  • Water
  • Wastewater
  • Gas
  • Electricity
  • Civil Construction
  • Events
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited