Ausgrid Industrial Action Put on Hold.

BY DANIELLE RIES.

Ausgrid workers in the Hunter region and across NSW have put planned industrial action on hold as they have given their conditional support for a workplace agreement which will help deliver them wage rises for the first time in four years.

Employees opted to take industrial action unless a new wage deal was struck.

Negotiations are currently underway to increase the wage by 2.75 percent over the next three years along with a one thousand six hundred dollar bonus for each employee.

Employees are also after protection against forced redundancies in line with the NSW Governments privatisation employment protections.

Electrical Trades Union Secretary Dave McKinley says negotiations underway is more than just a pay rise.

"The main negotiations are around trying to ensure we get maximum employment in the Hunter region and the rest of the Ausgrid region.

"But its also to give the company a certain amount of flexibility so they can remain profitable and in turn keep employment levels up". 

He also believes the employees should be treated better regarding pay.

"Throughout this negotiation, we've been trying to find ways to make the company a little bit more profitable and in turn keep levels of employment up across the Ausgrid region, purely so that we don't raise prices for electricity but at the same time the employees get a fair and reasonable wage increase but also keep their jobs". 

Credit- Ausgrid Official Website.

800 homes without power in Maitland

BY JARROD MELMETH

Ausgrid are working to restore power to about 500 homes and businesses in Maitland.

Power went out to around 800 homes in Largs, Bolwarra Heights, Bolwarra, Lorn, Pitnacree, Raworth, East Maitland and Wallalong just before 9:30 this morning.

Ausgrid have since returned power to around 300 homes with the reamining 500 set to be restored by 11:30am.

Around 800 homes are without power in Maitland.

Hunter Ausgrid Workers Threaten Strike Action

BY IAN CROUCH and MATT JOHNSTON

UPDATE 1:58 PM

More than 2,800 Ausgrid workers were involved in the vote to take stop work action, 93% of whom supported work stoppages of up to 8 hours, and a refusal to do overtime or callouts.

However, the manager for the Energy and Utilities team with the United Services Union Peter Campise says a strike would be "an absolute last resort", and that they're still prepared to negotiate with Ausgrid.

"Our members of course are consumers [of Ausgrid's services] themselves, so we're very conscious of our needs as well, and trying to make sure that there's the least damage to the community."

 If an agreement isn't reached, workers could go on strike as early as the first half of February, a period which last year saw power outages across the Hunter.

Delegates from the combined unions involved in the discussions will meet on January 31st to discuss the timing and format of any stoppages.

EARLIER:

Ausgrid workers across the Hunter have voted overnight to take industrial action next month unless they get a pay rise.

The Electrical Trades Union says its members haven't had a wage increase in four years and have run out of patience, while Ausgrid executives have awarded themselves pay increases averaging 5-point-3 percent a year.

The union is pushing for a 3 percent increase each year for 3 years, while Ausgrid is offering a 7 percent rise over the same period plus a $1000 one-off payment.

In a statement, Ausgrid CEO Richard Gross says they're disappointed with the proposed strike action and want the union to continue to bargain in good faith.

TOTAL FIRE BAN in place for the Hunter

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Fire crews will be on high alert in the Hunter today with a TOTAL FIRE BAN in place for the region.

The mercury will soar to 43 degrees in Wallsend, and it'll even be 40 degrees in Newcastle throughout much of the day.

The fire conditions are rated as being Severe due to the hot and dry conditions - the advice from the Rural Fire Service today is to follow your bush survival plan if you need to and remain vigilant.

Ausgrid has cancelled some planned maintenance works across the region.

Works planned for Hexham, Singleton, Pokolbin and Woodville won't be going ahead today. Maintenance planned for Muscle Creek, Aberdeen, Sandy hollow, Keinbah, Myuna Bay and Wakefield will continue, but be shorter than planned so power can be restored by midday.

AUSGRID Cancels Scheduled Maintenance for Hunter

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The very high temperatures around the Hunter today have prompted Ausgrid to cancel planned maintenance works which would have cut power to homes for the day.

The power company has cancelled works which were scheduled for Raymond Terrace, Heddon Greta, Mccullys Gap, Yango Creek and Lambs Valley.

"All of those jobs would've involved interrupting power to customers and some of those would've been extended interruptions and in the very hot conditions we don't want to leave customers unnecessarily without power for long periods," said Jonathon Hall from Ausgrid.

There are some locations where customers have asked for works to still go ahead, as they've been in the planning for weeks or even months.

Ausgrid said they've made sure to contact the most at-risk customers.

"We have been contacting life support and vulnerable customers in areas where we do have planned works just to let them know what's happening and if the works are going ahead. We'll continue to do that today talking to them just to ensure they have all of the information they need in the heat," said Jonathon.

Ausgrid has released some simple tips for everyone to follow ahead of the soaring temperatures today:

• Use natural breezes to stay cool by opening doors and windows on opposite sides of your home.
• Using air conditioners less could save a family of four up to 10% on their electricity bill.
• Use a fan for cooling. A ceiling fan costs about two cents an hour to run, or about $6 over summer. Air conditioning the same space can cost between 30 and 40 cents an hour and add $100-150 to your bill.
• Set your air conditioner between 23 to 26 degrees. Each extra degree of cooling can add up  to 10% to your running costs.
• If you are using air conditioning remember to close doors and windows to keep the cool air in.

Wild Weather Leaves Kurri Kurri Looking Like a War Zone

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It could be days before Kurri Kurri gets back on its feet after a ferocious storm ripped through the area yesterday afternoon.

Cyclonic conditions hit the town at about 2pm, with it came winds of up to 100 kilomtres per hour that ripped roofs off buildings, brought trees down on cars and cut power to thousands of homes.

Image MJF Productions.

Emergency services were run off their feet with the Kurri Kurri Community Centre evacuated after the building partially collapsed, and the Ambulance Practice hall became one of the worst hit with the roof completely ripped off.

Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent said the storm was short but severe.

"I was in the area yesterday when it happened and it is like a war zone,"

"The plan today is that the SES, the police and council have a meeting this morning and from there we will work out a way forward, particularly around the safety aspect of the buildings that lost their roofs," said Mayor Bob Pynsent.

Today Kurri Kurri Public School is closed due to damage, as will the library until it is given the all clear. The OOSh which runs out of the Ambulance Hall will relocate if a suitable venue can be found.



"We will get a full assessment today with the meeting between SES, the police and council and we will then be putting forward an emergency funding plan from the government," said Mayor Bob Pynsent.

Rachael Squires from the SES says crews are still dealing with dozens of calls for assistance.

"In total, we had over 175 calls for assistance. Last night we had 20 crews on the ground from across our region, we also had assistance from a number of crews from Fire and Rescue and so we managed to be able to complete around 90 of those jobs so we'll still be working on the ground today."

Ausgrid is still working to restore power to 1300 homes around Kurri Kurri, Abermain, Weston Sawyers Gully and Loxford.

"Everyone needs to remain safe because we still have around 1300 people without power so it's going to be a tough day again today," said Mayor Bob Pynsent.

Kurri Kurri Communuity Centre Image MJF Productions.

Image MJF Productions.

300 homes still affected by power outages in Beresfield and Tarro

BY JARROD MELMETH

UPDATE

Power has been safely restored to most homes and businesses around Beresfield, Woodberry and Tarro, after a fault on protection equipment at the zone substation.

Ausgrid is thanking affected customers for their patience.

EARLIER

Emergency crews from Ausgrid are still working to get power back to about 300 homes and businesses in Beresfield and Tarro following almost 3,000 homes and business suffering power outages just after 10am.

Power outages occurred in Ashtonfield, Beresfield, Black Hill, Buttai, Hexham, Lenaghan, Minmi, Stockrington, Tarro and Woodberry.

An Ausgrid spokesperson says "crews are investigating what caused the interruption to the zone substation at Tarro. Once they identify the cause and location of the fault they will work to get the power back safely as quickly as possible."

Power is expected to return to the remaining homes and businesses by 12:30pm today. 

Power outages earlier today.

Power outages as of 11am today.

The Premier is coming to Newcastle

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is in Newcastle today to speak with business owners about the state budget and how it will affect them and the whole Hunter region.

The Premier will also no doubt be grilled on the disruption in the city with the Light Rail project and Newcastle 500 preparation underway.

Some business owners on parts of Hunter and Watt Street will be after answers from the Premier with Ausgrid announcing they'll be cutting off power this Saturday for eight hours.

The power is scheduled to be out between 8:30am and 4:30pm so street lights can be replaced in preparation for the V8 race in November.

Businesses are worried about the loss of power during the day, and on a weekend, fearing they will lose a lot of business with electronic EFTPOS payments not able to be put through when there's no power.

Fairfax reports some businesses get more than 80 per cent of their sales through EFTPOS at their store.

Image smh.com.au

Jobs set to be axed from Ausgrid at Wallsend

BY DANIELLE RIES and JESSICA ROUSE

There's more job losses on the cards for Wallsend with 30 jobs set to be axed from Ausgrid.

MP Sonia Hornery has expressed how disappointed she is with workers advised the 30 positions will be moving to Sydney. It comes after the government announced the sale of Ausgrid last year and trumpeted the fact the sale would lead to both better service and cheaper prices.

Whether the government can step in or not, Sonia Hornery believes they should because it is simply unacceptable these jobs are being lost.

"It's a lack of commitment by the state government to create jobs in an area that desperately needs more apprentices, more schools and more jobs. Not only is it a loss of thirty jobs, it's a loss of thirty skills and a loss of thirty persons experience because who knows where these people will have to travel to get jobs."

She is also worried that with thirty skilled workers being kicked out of Wallsend when there's a blackout or an electrical problem there will be no one local to fix it quickly.

"The government shouldn't be allowing Ausgrid to take another thirty jobs away from our community so the government should put a stop to these additional job losses in the Wallsend area. They should put a stop to it and they shouldn't allow it to occur."

Truck Roll Over Denman

BY IAN CROUCH

A truck carrying livestock has rolled over at Denman, bringing down high voltage power lines.

The B-Double loaded with 120 head of cattle tipped over on Denman Road at the intersection of Jerrys Plains Road (Golden Highway) just before 4.00am.

Denman Road is closed in both directions and traffic is being diverted along Edderton Road.

The truck driver and the cattle escaped unharmed.

Emergency services, the RMS and Ausgrid crews are at the scene .

Thousands Of Hunter Residents Report Loud Explosion

BY IAN CROUCH

 Hunter residents have taken to social media in big numbers overnight to report a loud bang.

People from right across Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Port Stephens and the Coalfields say they heard an explosion just before 10 o'clock.

Some say it shook their house while others say they saw a blue flash.

It appears to be linked to a power fault at Warners Bay at about the same time, which cut electricity to 19-hundred homes..

Ausgrid says the outage was caused by a possum.