By JULIA DAIA BORE
ABOUT 1,000 PNG Power (PPL) workers have had their fortnight pay docked for walking off their jobs last week, with some receiving just a few kina.
The lowest amount paid out to an employee was 70 toea while others received between K1.60 and K10.
Staff savings and loans general manager Muser Malong said that the workers were only docked up to 15 hours of pay and that the small amount received by some could be due to deductions for loans.
Late yesterday, many workers came up to his office to seek more loans to tide them over for the fortnight.
About 300 of the workers affected are based in Port Moresby while most of the rest are based at the Ramu and Yonki stations.
Several PPL workers contacted yesterday told The National that their families would be going hungry until their next pay packet.
One employee, who did not want to be named said he received only K10 while another said she received K18 although she missed only a day’s work.
A union leader said he received calls from Ramu, Yonki as well as the Moitaka and Rouna stations.
“The management is now asking for more trouble,” he said.
“We will let nature take its course if they expect us to fix any problem.
How do they expect hungry workers to forget how they have mistreated us?”
The National was unable to reach PPL chief executive officer Patrick Mara for comment but chairman Sari Maso said the deduction was “consistent with their employment contract”.
Port Moresby undertaker Raymond Agonia said his business was badly affected by the recent dispute and urged PPL to prevent any further prolonged blackout.
He said although he had standby generators, blackouts still created problems in view of the nature of his business.