In Australia, It Takes 5 to Change Light Bulb
Question: How many electrical workers does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: In Australia, five.
A New South Wales government report released this week tells a woeful tale of public-service inefficiency before recent government restructuring of state industries. It said the state’s electricity commission needs five workers to change a light bulb in one of its power stations because of union rules.
“An electrical fitter and his mate were on top of the crane,” commission General Manager Barry Flanagan explained in the report. “The fitter called to the man driving the crane to move it to the next light. That man driving the crane couldn’t accept the call from the tradesman.
“He had to have a rigger and a mate standing by him so the tradesmen could talk to the rigger and the rigger could tell the crane driver.”
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