The 24-hour stoppage, which began at 7.30am Queensland time, was the start of rolling stoppages intended to secure a new enterprise bargaining agreement before Christmas, according to ETU assistant state secretary Peter Simpson.

The strike followed mass meetings of members of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and more stoppages were likely in the weeks ahead, he said.

While all of the Energex senior management staff had received generous increases and bonuses recently, the corporation had failed to deliver a wage increase to its workers for the past 17 months, according to Simpson.

Emergency crews were on stand-by in case of power outages, he said.

In other news, one of Energex's most senior managers has been revealed to have had a dishonesty finding against him.

Brisbane newspaper, The Courier-Mail, reported Don Cleary, 60, had been found to have acted dishonestly as a solicitor.

In a contractural matter arising out of the collapse of Estate Mortgages, Judge Clifford Einstein of the the NSW Supreme Court found in 1998 that Cleary's conduct in the deals involved a "degree of moral turpitude or delinquency beyond mere recklessness or thoughtlessness".

This decision was upheld by the NSW Court of Appeal in 2000.

As general manager of corporate development, Cleary is Energex's fourth-highest executive, on an annual salary of more than $200,000.