Around 50 households in the Burnie suburb of Parklands are experiencing an extended power outage following industrial action by TasNetworks line workers.
The outage began at 12:30pm on Saturday after a fallen tree brought down powerlines on West Park Grove.
17 other outages are affecting around 100 other customer across Tasmania, including 106 in Sheffield and 50 in Stanley.
TasNetworks CEO Sean McGoldrick said the extended outages are due to striking line workers who, at the request of their union, are refusing to reconnect households and businesses.
“Some Tasmanians have been left in the cold by union-led industrial action,” he said.
“We respect our people’s right to take lawful industrial action, but we’re also determined to help Tasmanians minimise the impact.”
McGoldrick said TasNetworks would be meeting with the union on Tuesday for further discussions.
“Adding a full [pay rise of] 7% for a workforce already averaging more than $100,000 a year is a very good deal that supports and rewards our people better than ever before.”
Minister for Energy and Renewables Nick Duigan has called the action “unacceptable”.
“Our communities should not pay for industrial action. Tasmanians, people’s livelihoods and our economy are not fair game. Tasmanians cannot be held to ransom,” he said.
“The Communications, Electrical & Plumbing Union must come to the negotiating table and stop taking action that unfairly targets and impacts Tasmanians.”
