Electricorp selective on salaries—P.S.A.

Press, 9 December 1988, Page 7

Electricorp selective on salaries—P.S.A.

By

NIGEL MALTHUS

The Public Service Association has accused the Electricity Corporation of being selective in salary figures released on Wednesday.

The figures, printed in “The Press” yesterday, showed that the average wage for Electricorp Production workers was $37,000, and the P.S.A. wage claim was for up to 9 per cent. Commenting on an editorial that linked the figures with public annoyance at the power cuts caused by industrial action, the P.S.A.’s general secretary, Mr Colin Clark, said, “I’d be browned off, too — but I have to hotly dispute those figures. They’re totally distorting the facts.” Mr Clark said the figures related only to Electricorp Production workers — the highest-

paid of Electricorp’s subsidiaries. That was because the great majority were shift workers, working a mandatory two hours overtime a week and on a 24-hour roster including Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays.

They were also highly skilled and carried “huge levels” of responsibility, he said. Just two people would work in a control room for a huge power station such as Benmore.

On the other hand, Electricorp Marketing’s staff included about 300 lines staff who did not work shifts and overtime and had gross incomes between $lB,OOO and $22,000 a year, he said.

“A helluva lot are very basically paid workers.” Mr Clark said that while the P.S.A. was claiming 9 per cent, it had made it clear that expec-

tations were very modest. The P.S.A. had accepted about 4 per cent for members in other awards. “But for as long as Electricorp has counterclaims which will claw back conditions and cost our members money, we have to keep our claim in,” he said. The P.S.A. deeply regretted the impact of their action on the public, but Electricorp had been the most difficult employer in the round. Efficiency had been improved and staff members had been cut 25 per cent, and the corporation’s chief executive, Dr Roderick Deane, was predicting a doubling of its profits this year, said Mr Clark. “It is reasonable for workers in the industry to get at least what other workers are getting in this award round,” he said.