00:00Interstate!
00:03On the lawns of Parliament House, union members are demanding pay parity with their interstate
00:08counterparts.
00:09Same job, same pay, not a backward step, not now, not ever.
00:15Their protest is part of a bitter industrial dispute that was put on pause last month after
00:21Tas Networks declared an impending emergency ahead of an unprecedented weather event.
00:27We need to make sure that we can put our network in the best position possible.
00:31The severe weather left tens of thousands of Tasmanians without power for days.
00:36But according to the Fair Work Commission, some union members continued their industrial
00:41action by temporarily refusing to restore power to some life support customers, fix
00:47fallen transmission lines at New Norfolk, or reconnect electricity to a major mine and
00:53two wind farms in the state's northwest.
00:56The Commission finding such actions threatened to endanger life or the welfare of the population
01:02or of part of it.
01:03To then try to weaponise that for your own benefit in a period of emergency where a lot
01:11of vulnerable Tasmanians are clearly at risk is something that is untasmanian.
01:18They were grossly exaggerated and if they were examined closely then it was clear that
01:25no lives were put in danger at all.
01:27Tas Networks has promised staff a 14% pay rise over three years plus a $6,000 sign-on
01:34bonus.
01:35But the union says it's not good enough and it's urging workers to reject the offer when
01:40it goes to a vote next week.
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