FUEL CRISIS

Across Australia, ETU Members are dealing with the worst of the fuel crisis. With prices fluctuating, many workers are facing job instability, and growing costs to get to worksites. We know things are not going to just ‘snap back’ to how they were pre-War, and the impacts are going to be felt for months to come.

Already apprentices are being stood down in their hundreds, with 200 stood down in Queensland alone, as the country faces a worsening fuel crisis. Business costs are rising, with the costs of transports and price of supplies rising. It is being passed onto electrical apprentices, many of whom don’t have savings to support them.

Apprentices are our future, and without apprentices we will not be able to build the infrastructure Australia needs to secure our path ahead. The entire energy transition is under threat when apprentices are taken out of work, and with more apprentices expected to be stood down, this should be ringing alarm bells for everyone in the industry.

The ETU welcomes decisions by the Federal Government to decrease the fuel tax and provide some relief to workers, as well as the diplomatic efforts to secure more fuel for our country.

We know though that the impacts will continue to be felt in our industries, and that apprentices who have been forced out of work will have a difficult time returning. More needs to be done to support workers, and get apprentices back on track with their apprenticeships, given the skills shortage crisis. So many have already quit their apprenticeships, exacerbating a forecasted shortfall of 42,500 electricians over the next four years, and we need the Federal Government to make some big changes to ensure that national infrastructure development is not impacted by shortages.