The leave, which came from an employee’s accrued time-off-in-lieu (TOIL), by mutual agreement with their employer, enabled employees to take time off from work for cultural or ethnicity events.

The Electrical Trade Union said all three companies had flagged they wanted it to be removed from the agreement, calling it a “significant backward step for the recognition of cultural diversity in the workplace”.

“Ergon admitted they have not spoken to any Indigenous employees before tabling this proposal and Powerlink yesterday refused to confirm they would continue to recognise cultural diversity in the agreement,” ETU organiser Stuart Traill said.

“These companies profess to be equal opportunity employers and major employers of culturally diverse employees but then kick them in the guts in the name of complying with the LNP Government wages policy.

“It’s about time they started listening to and looking after their employees instead of towing the line of the LNP masters.”

A spokesman for Energy Minister Mark McArdle, when asked about the policy in regards to Powerlink on Monday, said cultural leave entitlements were provided for using TOIL provisions, which will remain in the enterprise agreement.

But Mr Traill said that removed the “recognition and acknowledgement of the cultural diverse nature of employees in the electricity industry across the state”.

“Ergon Energy has many staff from various cultures, there are many indigenous employees across Western, Cape and Torres Strait communities that want this recognition so they can rely on the TOIL provisions when the need to attend culturally significant events or sorry business,” he said.

“They have not consulted with one culturally diverse employee and how this shift makes them feel, their past experiences and the way this proposal could impact on them.”

Negotiations are ongoing.