“It is vital that regional towns have training opportunities to create the skilled jobs they need to sustain themselves. Creating skilled job opportunities in regional areas allows people to stay in remote communities and keep their towns strong. Unions do more than deliver better wages and conditions, we also advocate to strengthen communities. Creating skilled jobs and opportunities for workers in regional communities is union business.” – CEPU SA Branch Secretary, John Adley
Cooper Pedy is a strong, proud tight-knit community, they look out for and look after each other.
A town 900kms from Adelaide, the town and its members are regularly affected by high cost of living pressures, lack of employment opportunities and a lack of resources.
The largest employer in Cooper Pedy is the Cooper Pedy Council, and one of the major projects managed by the council is the energy generation and distribution system. Cooper Pedy is not on the main grid for South Australia, their transmission and distribution is separate and locally managed and maintained. And it requires local, trained lines-workers to do that maintenance. Cooper Pedy Council, which has been in administration for six years, manages everything to do with the energy system from generation, tight down to managing the retail component for the community.
Currently in South Australia, there is only one RTO providing apprenticeship trade training for lines workers – SA Power Networks (SAPN). SAPN are an enterprise RTO and are the only training option for lines workers apprentices in the whole of the state. SAPN regularly train apprentices from other contractors across the state.
For the last three years the Cooper Pedy Council have been asking SAPN for apprentice places to train local Cooper Pedy workers. SAPN have continually refused to create places for apprentices based in Cooper Pedy, claiming there aren’t enough places.
Cane is CEPU SA member and lives in Cooper Pedy. Because of SAPN’s claims they can’t provide places for Cooper Pedy locals, Cane has been waiting since March 2023 to be signed on as an apprentice.
The CEPU SA Branch consistently advocates and supports their members in Cooper Pedy and the Cooper Pedy community and on being alerted to the constant refusal by SAPN to train apprentices, the union intervened.
“Cooper Pedy council has had a turnover of 3 CEO’s in the last 12months, no-one was advocating for the local electrical and water department workers, the majority of whom are CEPU SA members. TH union had to intervene on this issue due to frustrations that the problem was not being solved. Even though these members live and work over 900kms away from Adelaide, they are still highly valued members of our union and deserve representation from their union. No workers should ever be left behind.” Jason Lailey, Power Industry organiser CEPU SA Branch.
The CEPU organised a meeting with both the SA Minister for Skills and Training, Blair Boyer and the SA Skills Commissioner Cam Baker. After hearing the situation affecting the Cooper Pedy workers, the Minister and Commissioner spoke to SAPN and advocated for training places to be made available for Cooper Pedy locals.
The outcome is SAPN have now agreed to create 2 training places for Cooper Pedy apprentices, and Cane will take up one of those places to start his lines worker apprenticeship.