Tasmanian employees have been left out of pocket and without a job after a communications and electrical company went bust.
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Russell-Smith went into administration on Thursday, leaving more than a million dollars in debt and hundreds of thousands of dollars owing to its workers.
The contract company was formed in June 2014, shortly after PSG Russell Smith went into receivership and 200 Tasmanians lost their jobs.
Two years later and Russell-Smith has suffered a similar fate which the union has attributed to “obvious incompetence”.
Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union Tasmania state organiser Michael Anderson said recent “mass resignations” had seen a drop in the number of Russell-Smith employees.
However at least 20 workers in the North would still be impacted by the insolvency.
“Over the past month, there’s been about 35 people resign because they were sick of not being paid their entitlements,” Mr Anderson said.
“The workers who resigned weren’t even paid for their last fortnight of work and you have workers in the North who haven’t even been told what the next steps are.
“We were the ones to break the news about the company going into administration. It’s an absolute disgrace, and it’s been a complete debacle for months now.”
The union will meet with employees on Monday morning.
“In the interim we will be explaining the steps of how administration works to the employees in the North,” Mr Anderson said.
“Normally [administration] would be a very bad thing, but I think it at least gives the workers some clarity.”
Russell-Smith has offices in Launceston, Burnie, Devonport and Hobart.