AMWU members have voted to campaign against the New South Wales Government's plans to privatise the electricity sector.

AMWU members joined with other unions at a meeting in Sydney this week and voted unanimously to campaign against the plan, pledging rallies, political action and industrial campaigning.

Despite comments from the NSW Treasurer Michael Costa that a union-led campaign will not change the government’s mind, unions are forging ahead.

An ad has already appeared in the Financial Review warning companies to be careful if they are considering offering legal and financial advice to the Government about privatising the power industry.

Unions have also released research that indicates strong support for the campaign as 85% of people are opposed to privatisation.

The results of a survey showed that 85 per cent of people in the state are opposed to the privatisation of the electricity sector.

AMWU NSW Secretary, Paul Bastian, said he was disappointed that the government was again considering privatising a major industry when privatisation had been a failure in other industries.

“I would have thought they could learn from their mistakes, because the public has. People are opposed to privatisation because of what they’ve seen with the Cross City Tunnel, M5 Tollway, Lane Cove Tunnel and Airport Rail Link.

“Privatisation is bad for everyone: for the community, for workers – and in the long run – for the government, because there is no accountability.’

Unions have launched a new website as part of the campaign, http://www.stoptheselloff.org.au/