Ausgrid deny accusations that job cuts are looming

Electricity provider Ausgrid is denying union claims it plans to axe up to 1,000 jobs in the Hunter.

Ausgrid spokesman Anthony O’Brien says only 780 jobs are being cut mainly by natural attrition and voluntary redundancy by Ausgrid, Essential Energy and Endeavour Energy across the state.

The Electrical Trades Union is claiming leaked internal documents show thousands more jobs will be cut to prepare for the privatisation of the network’s ‘poles and wires’.

Mr O’Brien says the accusations are wrong.

“Unfortunately those claims are based on documents that have been misinterpreted by the union,” he said.

“They have applied a scale to a document that has no scale.

“They’ve unfortunately used their own calculations to come up with a result that is wildly inaccurate.”

But the union says managers from the power companies need to come clean and admit they are looking to strip about two-thirds of the workforce.

State secretary Steve Butler says it is a farce to suggest the cuts will be restricted to 780.

“We don’t believe that’s the case at all,” he said.

“We don’t believe it’s a reference to those jobs.

“We believe it’s a reference to much deeper, much more savage cuts on top of those 780 jobs.”