Workers based in Nowra for Endeavour Energy were sent to a scheduled commercial job in Unanderra the morning after wild storms lashed the Shoalhaven, causing power outages for hundreds of homes and businesses, unions say.
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Workers' representative say had crews been directed to fix downed transmission lines instead, residents would have had the power turned on much earlier than the 24 hours it took to restore electricity.
Thousands of homes and businesses woke on Saturday morning to no power, after damaging winds, rain and lightning caused over 140 hazards on the electricity network across the Shoalhaven, Currarong and Southern Highlands overnight on Friday.
Large trees and branches that fell in the storm brought down powerlines on numerous occasions.
However, Endeavour Energy work crews in Nowra, the epicentre of the storm were instead directed to a pre-scheduled project in Unanderra for a commercial client, according to union organiser Tara Koot.
"That crew got sent to this job that was not an emergency."
Endeavour Energy workers, represented by the Electrical Trades Union, are currently in enterprise bargaining negotiations with Endeavour Energy management.
Ms Koot said in lieu of the half a dozen workers who were rostered on, management sought to call up workers on stand-by, however the ongoing low rate of stand-by pay has seen many workers refuse to be available for emergency call outs.
"After a few hours, when they couldn't get people in on overtime, they decided to declare an emergency," she said.
This triggered action from the workers at Unanderra who chose to take protected industrial action. Under the terms of the action, workers will refuse to complete scheduled jobs, but can be called on for emergencies.
This meant that the workers from Nowra, working in Unanderra, returned to their community to get the power back on.
An Endeavour Energy spokesperson said crews worked over the weekend to get power back on as quickly as possible.
"As part of our storm recovery plans, crews from across the network are mobilised to expedite repairs so affected customers are without power for as little time as possible."
Power was restored to the 2400 affected customers by 11pm on Saturday night.
One of the demands of the union in current negotiations is lifting the stand-by rate from $30 a day to be inline with what the union says is the industry standard of $65 a weekday and $100 on a weekend.
Ms Koot said being called out when on stand-by was a significant disruption and workers should be compensated adequately.
"Our claim is to significantly increase the standby and then this situation never would have happened."
The Endeavour Energy spokesperson said bargaining negotiations were continuing.
"We continue to work closely and in good faith with our employees to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement while balancing our commitment to constrain business costs in customers' interests," the spokesperson said.
"Importantly, we have received a safety commitment from unions in the Fair Work Commission to temporarily suspend industrial action to protect customer and community safety where emergency works are required, for example following events like last weekend's storm.
"Our discussions on the enterprise agreement continue and we are committed to working constructively with our employees throughout this process."
