ETU urges FWA to reverse standdown of Watters Electrical workers

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) Victorian Branch has urged Fair Work Australia to reverse the standdown of electrical workers by Watters Electrical, part of the Hastie Group that recently entered into voluntary administration.

The ETU claims that Watters kept the electrical workers “notionally ‘employed’” but stood them down without pay. “What this action by the Administrator means is that the stooddown workers are left in limbo, being technically employed but without a wage,” ETU Victorian Branch Secretary Dean Mighell said.

“They are then denied the ability to register for unemployment benefits or to access their own redundancy funds because they are deemed to be still employed.”

More than 300 of the stooddown electrical workers from Watters Electrical met at the ETU Victorian Branch this morning to hear a union report on action to have the standdown reversed.