Huge job losses on the cards at Transfield as Chorus abandons copper

Workers at Transfield Services are to pay the price for Chorus’ mismanagement of the ultra-fast broadband project and attempts to escape the copper market.

The EPMU, which represents Transfield workers, is concerned that contractors who work with Chorus are feeling the squeeze as the company reduces its interest in the copper network and only commits to basic maintenance.

“Because Chorus has been unsuccessful in getting the copper price raised, they’re doing as little as possible to keep the network up and running,” says Joe Gallagher, EPMU organiser for the electrocommunications industry. “This means less work for their contractors and in turn fewer jobs for their workers.

“There are serious risks to this approach – as skilled workers are forced to look overseas for jobs we’re losing their knowledge and abilities to keep our infrastructure running smoothly, and as Chorus focuses more on reactive maintenance we’re losing stable, permanent jobs with a good career path.

“We will be meeting with Transfield to discuss how we can save as many jobs as we can and ensure workers are able to transfer to other parts of the business wherever possible.”

ENDS

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