Amwu news winter 2013

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Is the mining boom about to bust? The election policies affecting your job Book giveaway: Makers

INSIDE

WINTER 2013


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EDITORIAL

Election Countdown The Federal Election is only weeks away and all the noise and advertising is upon us. Thirty per cent of union members say that they are still undecided about who they will vote for, which perhaps means that many have stopped listening. Everyone will make their own choice at the ballot box, but it is important in doing so that decent jobs now and into the future, fair working conditions and Australia’s manufacturing capability are at the forefront of those decisions.

To help try and make a bit of sense of it all, we have laid out the current policies that the two major parties have released around manufacturing and industrial relations in the following pages.

Elections are about choices and in many ways the choice we make in 2013 will have major ramifications for our workplaces, industry and society more generally.

This has been a tumultuous parliament and Australians aren’t used to that. Nonetheless, the Labor Government has managed as a minority government to achieve many reforms.

And despite a tightening budget position, they have introduced and maintained significant industry policies including the $1 billion Jobs Plan package for manufacturing; the $5.4 billion New Car Plan; the $1.2 billion Clean Technology Package; the

No matter what criticisms might be leveled at the government, they have been willing to intervene in industry, to allocate resources to maintaining and creating jobs and to providing fairer workplace laws that protect workers’ rights. Against these achievements it is worth asking ourselves what an Abbott led coalition stands for and what they will do should they be elected.

The AMWU has campaigned throughout the term of this parliament around the importance of manufacturing jobs and our industry as well as for improved workers’ rights, safety and training opportunities. And we have had some success in convincing the Labor Government to take up the challenge. The Labor Government have introduced Disability Care, acted on climate change, moved to increase superannuation from nine per cent to twelve per cent, established the Asbestos Eradication Authority, abolished the ABCC, guaranteed workers’ entitlements, strengthened the Fair Work Act, established the Jobs Board and moved to toughen 457 Visa provisions to stop the exploitation of foreign workers – to name just a few things.

$300 million steel package; as well as committing to $36 billion in road, rail and port infrastructure and building world class communications through the NBN.

Many of their policies lack details and costings – not surprisingly. But what we do know is that they will axe the carbon pricing scheme and the steel package, cut at least $500 million from the Car Plan, scrap the Clean Technology Program and axe the $1 billion Jobs Plan.

services and programs is curtailed? We know that rather than funding hospitals and schools equitably, an Abbott Government will embark again on a privatisation strategy of local administration, resulting in education and health outcomes being determined by the affluence of your neighbourhood. Elections are about choices and in many ways the choice we make in 2013 will have major ramifications for our workplaces, industry and society more generally. As our delegate, Kelly O’Driscoll, recently noted: “It’s not about politicians’ personalities and whether you like them or not, it’s about the policies and who would be better for jobs and our future in manufacturing.” The AMWU believes that we need a government prepared to intervene and assist industries to adjust to changing circumstances. A government prepared to recognise the rights of working people. A government that supports jobs not just big business.

Will our industry and our jobs be any more secure by having a government that believes businesses and industry should be left to sink or swim according to what the market dictates and regardless of the circumstances? We need a government that recognises the importance of We know that they will move to put manufacturing jobs and skills. That’s individual contracts back at the heart because Australian manufacturing of our industrial relations system, jobs and the skills they develop and further restrict workers’ rights in harness are in our national interest bargaining, further restrict the right and are worth voting for. to take action and undermine workers’ conditions. We know that, just like their coalition partners at a state level, an Abbott led government will slash public services, including funding for TAFEs and vocational education programs. Will we really feel more secure when our rights at work are under attack and our ability to access government

Paul Bastian AMWU National Secretary

AMWUNews WINTER 2013

Paul Bastian’s editorial…………............................................................................ 3

AMWU News is the official publication of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, (registered AFMEPKIU) National Office, 133 Parramatta Road, Granville, NSW, 2142. Editor: Paul Bastian AMWU Communications Team: Rod Masson, Neil Wilson and Andrea Firehock. Design: dcmc Design, Melbourne. All information included in this publication was correct at the time of publication, but is subject to change at any time. Please contact your union organiser for updates. © AMWU National Office Made in Australia by AMWU members

ALP v Coalition: The policies affecting your job…............................................. 4-5 Car industry needs certainty……......................................................................... 6 Union acts to preserve fruit industry…................................................................ 7 Lost opportunities of the mining boom…......................................................... 8-9 Move to ban Sensis offshoring jobs….................................................................10 Book review: Makers by Chris Anderson……......................................................11 Delegate profile: Jodie Wilson…….......................................................................12 AMWUNEWS

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NEWS

Make YOUR VOTE for man The 2013 election campaign seems to have been running all year. But how much is really understood about what each of the major parties will do for Australian jobs and workers after polling day on September 14? This is what the parties have revealed about their policies on jobs, industry, industrial relations and training policies at the time AMWU News went to print: MANUFACTURING, JOBS & INDUSTRY

Companies must submit Australian Industry Participation Plans on projects worth more that $500 million. Corporations overseeing projects of more than $2 billion must employ an Australian Industry Opportunity Officer to identify procurement and global supply opportunities for local firms

Set up the Australian Industry Participation Authority (AIP) to police local content and help local firms identify and win work in global supply chains

 $500 million for 10 industry precincts to help link scientific research to business to produce innovative products for export

 Goal of 3 per cent Budget increase for defence but no timetable, no costings or details on any commitment to building ships in Australia

local design for the future submarine fleet to be built and maintained at Australian Submarine Corporation in Adelaide and other dockyards nationally

Look at proposals to bring forward replacement of Armidale-class patrol boats and two replacement replenishment ships to fill the gap in the shipbuilding program

$28.5 million in Asian Food Market Research Fund to help industry penetrate Asian food markets, including innovation for processing and packaging

 Dedicated Food Innovation Precinct to bring science and industry together to help produce new products 

A new Anti-Dumping Commission and doubling the number of customs investigators to stop cheap imports being unfairly dumped in Australia at below production cost.

 $350 million boost to the Innovation Investment Fund to stimulate private investment in start-up companies using new technology and skills 

$1.2 billion Clean Technology Program to 2017-18 to generate co-investment by helping manufacturing firms convert to new energy- efficient equipment

 Clean Energy Finance Corporation with $10 billion loan funds for innovative clean energy companies 

Commitment to 2017-18 of $300 million Steel Transformation Plan to help the steel manufacturing industry adjust to a low carbon economy

$5.4 billion total Automotive Transformation Scheme co-investment package with car manufacturers and the components, tooling and service industries to 2020. This includes $275 million for Holden, in return for GM investing $1 billion for car design and manufacturing in Australia to 2022

Automotive Supplier Advocate to help component makers identify and win new work both here and abroad, including getting commitments on local purchases for government fleets

 Commitment to either a new design or “evolved”

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 Scrap carbon tax and mining tax  Scrap the Clean Technology Investment Program and Clean Energy Finance Corporation  Axe the $300 million Steel Transformation Program

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

 Maintenance of collective bargaining as the basis of IR system under the Fair Work Commission (FWC) 

Fair Work Act amendment proposals gave workers the right to request flexible rostering and conditions to care for dependents. Same rostering right for employees aged over 55 and those with disabilities

Victims of workplace bullying to have a right to their matter heard by the Fair Work Commission, which can make orders. If an offender or employer breaks orders they can be subject to harsh monetary penalties

 Proposed “right of entry” for union officials to hold meetings with members in the lunchroom, if no other arrangement is agreed 

Amount of unpaid parental leave partners can take together proposed to be increased from 3 weeks to 8 weeks. Pregnant employees entitled to unpaid special maternity leave in addition to rights for paid parental leave.

 Likely to axe the job strategy measures, including  Established Asbestos Safety and Eradication the Australian Industry Participation Authority Agency, with a national register for those potentially exposed to asbestos  Re-direct $600 million from axed Industry

Participation Precincts back to the banks and big business through R&D tax incentives

Withdraw $500 million of car industry co- investment allocated to 2015, with Productivity Commission inquiry to recommend at what level co-investment should occur

Retain anti-dumping measures, including reversing “onus of proof” so foreign companies must prove they are not dumping below-cost product on the local market

 Look for cheapest option, including overseas design, for next generation of submarines. Prefer to build at ASC in Adelaide

Proposed changes for FWC to ensure agreements have proper payments for employees working outside normal hours, including overtime, shiftwork, irregular hours, weekend work

 Increase employer superannuation contributions to 12 per cent 

Tighten regulations and increase number of inspectors to avoid abuse of 457 visa laws by employers exploiting foreign workers and depriving locals of work.


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nufacturing jobs count.  Oppose access of union officials to lunchroom and isolated sites to meet members

Individual Flexibility Agreements - contracts - promoted to be the heart of industrial system, with relaxed flexibility clauses undermining collective agreement conditions

Non-monetary items (eg – products, food) may form part of agreements instead of monetary pay as part of the “better off overall test” (BOOT)

 The right to strike is further restricted by making “protected industrial action” provisions more difficult to satisfy  Employers may dictate their own industrial agreements on new “Greenfields” projects if they can’t reach consensus with workers

  Delay for at least two years increasing the employer contribution to superannuation from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, which would deprive a young worker over ten’s of thousands of dollars in savings by retirement   Reintroduce 15 per cent tax on superannuation contributions for workers earning under $37,000, costing 3.4 million lower-paid workers about $500 each per year

 Widen use of 457 visas to make them an immigration tool. No tightening of system.

TRADES & TRAINING

Small business given immunity to prosecutions for ripping off workers, with bosses getting a new right to “phone a friend” at the Fair Work Ombudsman’s office

  A new Appeals Tribunal to “umpire the umpire” with power to overturn decisions of the Fair  Work Commission 

Bring back Australian Building Construction Commission with powers to secretly interrogate unionists and stifle the rights of workers in the construction industry

 Oppose anti-bullying measures unless they also specifically target the behavior of union officials towards employers

Eleven Industry Skills Councils developing and maintaining 69 National Industry Training Packages covering the skills of over 90 per cent of the Australian workforce.

 Support the new Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency

 Scope for regulations underlying the law to be changed to further restrict protected industrial action and to curtail union right of entry 

Australian Workforce Productivity Agency to prepare an annual Workforce Development Strategy that identifies specific areas of skill shortages and opportunities to link skills and workforce development directly to improving national productivity

Ongoing $765 million investment in the National Workforce Development Fund over six years, including new Budget allocation of $45 million to Skills Connect, for flexible, industry-led, skills and training options New funding of $68.8 million over four years for the Alternative Apprenticeship Pathways pilot program to trial innovation in trade training where industry identifies trades in high demand. Includes $50 million co- investment for employer groups to develop new training approaches for 4000 apprentices

 Ongoing $80 million for the Australian Apprenticeship mentoring program

 Open up 457 visa skilled migration pipeline rather than boost skills training places  Return to Howard-era by allowing more privately-operated Australian Technical Colleges and school-based apprenticeships, which have notoriously low completion rates. This would replace Trade Training Centres in schools  Support state cuts to TAFE funding in favour of small, for-profit private training companies as part of a privatisation model. The policy positions reflect a Labor Government willing to intervene in the economy for the sake of jobs and industry, to protect workers’ rights at work and to provide working people and their families with access to training, skill development and career opportunities. This compares with a largely unknown Abbott Coalition platform of favouring individual rights and free market policies through industrial relations deregulation, removal of government regulations for industry and businesses, eradication of progressive taxes and privatisation of government services. The AMWU is committed to continuing to campaign for governments to take a direct interest and action in supporting Australian manufacturing jobs and workers’ rights.

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Car industry needs certainty past 2016 T

he devastating decision by Ford to cease Australian production in 2016 has brought the nation to a tipping point where it needs strong, unified political will to retain a car industry, the AMWU believes.

AMWU National Secretary Paul Bastian said the decision was not only a deep blow to 1200 Ford workers in Victoria, but also hundreds of component makers and tens of thousands of workers in industries associated with auto production. Ford’s fate underlined the necessity for Australian industry to be given strong encouragement to be competitive in export markets. Mr Bastian said the $5.4 billion Car Plan needed to be followed through, urging the Federal Opposition to revisit its proposal to cut $500 million from that co-investment if elected. “We are at a crisis point that will need bi-partisan support to keep our car industry which is a centre for innovation and skills development vital to our prosperity,” Mr Bastian said.

The level of support Ford will give to its workers and component makers, with an estimated 3500 jobs to be affected, beyond the $27 million from government

How the $10 million Ford will give to the communities of northern Melbourne and Geelong will be spent and whether more is required beyond the $38 million adjustment support from government.

Broadmeadows delegates Stewart Harris, Paul Boulos and Joey Chessa said members were concerned it may be difficult to market the new Ford models to the buying public. Long way to 2016 : Ford delegates Stewart Harris (left), Paul Boulos (top) and Joey Chessa (bottom )

“It has also suffered in recent years from the refusal of governments at all levels to increase their purchasing of Australian-made cars.” Members at Ford want to know that everything possible is being done to ensure there will be sufficient work up to and beyond October 2016. They supported Mr Bastian’s push for increased government fleet sales and spare part manufacture to maintain sustainable production.

Broad issues include:

Mr Chessa said Ford had an obligation to the Australian community and a reputation to keep.

Mr Harris said: “We don’t want to end • Exploring the brand needs up to up like Mitsubishi which ended up and beyond October 2016 and maximising continued building 50 units a day. That’s why politicians at all levels have to put their employment biases away and buy Australian-built • Ensuring full redundancy rights so employees who have the vehicles for their fleets, to help the opportunity to leave Ford for industry to 2016 and beyond.

another job before October 2016 can do so

• AMWU involvement in training and outplacement programs

“We all want to convince Ford of its ongoing opportunities here. We want to walk away from vehicle production with dignity and respect.”

Labour movement marches to defend its democratic rights

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uge turnouts for this year’s May Day marches in Queensland and NSW have typified the fighting spirit of AMWU members as the labour movement faces an assault by conservative governments which could be a preview if the Abbott Opposition were to gain power.

system in a bid to starve the Labor Party of funds in the run-up to elections,” said Mr Ayres.

Nearly 35,000 unionists took to the streets of Brisbane and regional cities across Queensland in protest against savage public sector cutbacks and radical privatisation of health, education, energy and transport services. A common issue with Sydney, where 10,000 people joined the largest march in decades, was concern at each conservative State Government’s attacks on the union movement’s funding of political campaigns on behalf of members. In both NSW and Queensland, the AMWU is party to separate

In Queensland, Premier Campbell Newman’s legislation to force industrial organisations to hold a secret ballot of members for any “politically-related” campaign is due to commence on July 30.

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Limiting donations to individuals on the electoral roll has prejudiced Labor as its traditional supporters do not have anywhere near the same amounts to give as well-heeled Liberal Party backers.

High Court challenges against laws which attack the union movement’s rights to freedom of speech and political association.

law passed last year which bans any organisation from donating to political parties and limits individual donations.

“It’s back to the bad old days of Joh (Bjelke-Petersen), where anything we do that has a vaguely political aspect - like campaigning about state rail, services or job cuts – may be blocked,” said Queensland secretary Rohan Webb.

NSW State Secretary Tim Ayres is leading the fight against the O’Farrell Government’s electoral

“The conservatives have made their minds up to use their big majority in parliament to rig the

“It’s a clear attack on freedom of speech, and an attempt to restrict how unions operate.”

Feet do the talking: The AMWU contingent in Brisbane’s May Day march of 30,000 people


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Shipbuilders aim at pollies in pre-poll campaign T

he heat is on Australia’s political parties to fund consistent, highskilled work for all the nation’s shipyards after mass meetings of hundreds of AMWU members launched a renewed campaign of action in the run up to September’s Federal Election.

Every federal politician - MP and Senator - is set to get e-mails, petitions, letters or delegations of AMWU supporters urging them to ensure continuous shipbuilding which is essential to prepare for the mammoth national project of designing, building and maintaining our naval fleet. A union shipbuilders’ delegation will visit senior members of all parties in Canberra to stress what is at stake - a potential $250 billion industry built around 48 navy and other commercial and scientific vessels over the next thirty years. On May 27, shipyard members stopped simultaneously for 30 minutes at ASC North and South in Adelaide, Thales Sydney, Forgacs Newcastle, BAE Williamstown, BAE and ASC in Perth and Incat Hobart. They sent a message to Canberra not to miss the chance to build a powerful industry for the entire 21st century. “We want the whole lot built here, more jobs for Aussies and more jobs for our kids ,” said AMWU member Sarath Yin, while waiting for National Secretary Paul Bastian to address members in Melbourne. “We’re masters, we’re capable of doing this

&MAINTAIN work, they don’t need to bring ships from Spain or anywhere else.” Mr Bastian said Australia could not afford a repeat of its record of stop-start shipbuilding where skills and expertise were periodically lost, imperilling the industry and sending costs up when companies eventually had a new project. “We know what politicians are like, they need a bit of a push, a bit of a shove and there’s no better time than when there’s an election on,” Mr Bastian said, urging members to get in touch with their local politicians. “To sustain this industry, we need a commitment for a rolling build program, ships coming in one after another.” The 2013 Defence White Paper raised hopes of bringing forward a replacement for the Armidale-class patrol boats and two navy supply ships, but funding commitments are

needed from all sides of politics. “What we’re unable to find is the actual money in the Budget estimates and then you have the Coalition backpeddling from their commitment to build locally,” he said. AMWU delegate Leon White pointed out that while Defence Materiel Minister Mike Kelly had signed the union’s pledge to bring all shipbuilding to Australia he was still actively considering a deal for two supply ships with Spanish firm Navantia. That meant most of the hull work being done in Europe, as has happened with the Landing Helicopter Dock ships being completed at Williamstown. Members are urged to support the campaign by visiting: www.makingourfuture.com.au/ email-your-mp/ and sending an email to their local politician.

Union backs community call to preserve fruit industry

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MWU fruit processing members and growers are calling for tougher labelling laws and strong trade action to stem the flood of supermarket imports threatening to destroy their communities. Anger at the threat of job losses and social breakdown was rife at a protest rally in the Victorian fruit city of Shepparton, organised by Lee Luvara, an AMWU delegate at SPC Ardmona, and local woman Teena Knight. SPC Ardmona, Australia’s largest fruit preserver, has halved its quota orders to fruit growers amid mounting losses as Coles and Woolworths put extreme pressure on the local industry by filling their shelves with cheap foreign produce. A crowd of nearly 2000 locals who fear for their livelihoods supported AMWU and company demands for emergency tariffs on the deluge of imports. AMWU Victorian State Secretary Steve Dargavel told them the high Australian dollar and currency devaluation by the US, China and Europe to protect

The emergency tariff is aimed at giving the industry breathing space while the Productivity Commission reviews if permanent protection is justified. But Mr Dargavel said there was widespread concern the move would fail if the Productivity Commission took its usual free market view.

Rally passion: AMWU delegate at SPC Lee Luvara addresses the crowd

their exports had sent our competitveness down by 60 per cent. Mr Dargavel said consumers were being exposed to foreign food products including fruit with lower safety and hygiene standards due to confusion created by poor labelling laws on what is Australian made and grown. The AMWU has stressed that Country of Origin Labelling must make it clear to consumers not only what ingredients are grown in Australia, but whether the food is processed here under high Australian standards.

Mr Dargavel and AMWU Food Division Secretary Tom Hale last month led a delegation of SPC delegates and growers to Canberra to meet Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, Industry Minister Greg Combet and Coalition frontbenchers. SPC Ardmona, with 874 staff, generates $63 million a year for the local economy, indirectly supporting 2700 jobs. Lee Luvara told the rally: “SPC Ardmona hurts, we all hurt.” “Big retailers then allow in product from overseas with questionable quality standards and control,” he said. “Do overseas companies have to jump the same hurdles (as) Australian growers and manufacturers?” Mr Luvara lashed out at loose country-of-origin food labelling and roused the crowd to chant: “Toss a tin in your trolley, Australia.” AMWUNEWS

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Is the boom about to bust? The lost opportunit Battered by the high dollar, industry in WA and Queensland is sizing up the Labor Government’s new industry participation strategy. It could be their best and possibly last chance to secure a share of the riches before the boom starts to bust.

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few months ago Anthony Poi was wondering when Downer EDI on Perth’s outer industrial strip would send him to TAFE as part of his new boilermaking apprenticeship. But without help from the AMWU, the only place he was heading was to Rockingham’s busy Centrelink office. Once work was finished on Perth’s desalination plant and the ammonia nitrate plant in Kwinana, Downer’s fabrication shop was struggling to win new contracts from the huge resource projects up north. Bosses back in Downer’s head office decided to close it. “The worst thing is that they didn’t even enrol us at TAFE. The dude who got me in there said I’d be starting TAFE in January but by that time he had quit and we lost our jobs,” said Anthony.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Co says there is still another $320 billion in potential economic benefits from prospective LNG projects to 2025 on top of $500 billion for those already underway. Yet companies in the West which keep missing the boat on foreign investment are getting more desperate now that they fear it is gradually sailing into the distance. Liberal Premier Colin Barnett was angered by Woodside’s decision to scrap the $40 billion James Price Point liquid natural gas processing development. About 8000 potential construction jobs and plant fabrication work were lost when it was proposed that the facility be replaced by a giant floating LNG processing ship, to be made in Asian shipyards.

Sixty workers lost their jobs or were redeployed at Downer’s, which was among 20 or more metal shops to have closed or laid off hundreds of staff in WA over the past 18 months. What’s gone wrong in one of the world’s richest resource states, in a nation where mining engineering investment is worth a record $128 billion this year? Anthony’s mate Connor Fudge 16, thinks his dad has the answer – the boom which enriched Perth never reached Kwinana. “He says it’s because the majority of the work has gone overseas and now we’ve missed it. The bigger mining companies aren’t so concerned about the quality of the job but they’ll send it overseas for half the price,” said Connor, who now wishes he’d stayed at school. “Yeah, it sucks.” Youth unemployment in new suburbs cut out of the stringy bush south of Perth, where families rely on the nearby Kwinana industrial belt for jobs, runs at a shocking 23 per cent. Unemployment hovers stubbornly around 10 per cent (compared with Perth’s 4 per cent) and while manufacturing employs a third of the workforce, there are fewer jobs now than in 2006. Kwinana’s problems stem largely from WA metals shops getting a paltry 9-12 per cent of the steel work from the bonanza up north. Only 23,000 tonnes of the 310,000 tonnes of the steel fabrication on the giant Gorgon Gas Project have been produced in WA. And the state has seen virtually none of that kind of work from Chevron’s Wheatstone Project. Earthworks, catering, flights to Perth and corporate entertainment are counted as “local content.” Unfortunately, the $128 billion in gas and resource engineering works this year may be like a star burning brightest before it dims. BIS Shrapnel‘s forecast of a 6 per cent annual compound decline in mining investment is already hitting hard. Kwinana’s industrial strip (picture courtesy Kwinana Industries Council.)

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The strong dollar and low commodity prices have contributed to $100 billion in resources projects having been shelved or abandoned in the past year, $67 billion worth in WA.

Sacked apprentices Connor Fudge, left, and Anthony Poi are comforted by the AMWU’s Steve McCartney

But Mr Barnett’s Government has eagerly signed away billions of dollars of potential Australian industrial content just to secure mining revenue. In the case of the $6 billion Oakajee Port and Rail project – now indefinitely on hold - the government readily agreed to “use reasonable endeavours” for Murchison Metals to seek Chinese content for all railcars, structural steel, engineering and construction. “Liberal politicians in this state have always had a short-sighted attitude on development,” says AMWU State Secretary Steve McCartney. “As long as I can remember, we’ve revolved on a boom-and-bust cycle of about eight years. There’s jobs while the projects are built, but what’s left for WA industry in the coming decades?” What’s left as Australian fabricators’ best chance for now is the Labor Government’s Jobs Strategy which compels bidders to submit Australian Industry Participation Plans (AIPPs) for projects of more than $500 million. The week after Downers closed its Kwinana shop, bosses from WA’s prominent metals companies gathered to hear federal bureaucrats talk up investing in one of the Labor Government’s Industry Precincts, worth $500 million to link industry with university research and innovation. Business chiefs argued they couldn’t invest in


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ties of the greatest mining boom ever research and innovation if they were cut out of the chance for work in the first place - the very problem AIPPs are designed to address. One said it wasn’t only overseas firms such as Chevron whose supply chain outsourced to China and cheaper nations for fabrication work. It was also BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. “Rio Tinto have 20 to 30 people based in China looking to by-pass us and order direct from the state companies they deal with there. They’ve told me,” the CEO said. Another executive said his firm had been able to match the price of Chinese competitors for work on some projects, with better quality, but still had not been successful. “You can’t ignore the role of government in a competitive environment. We’re competing with overseas companies where governments support them strongly on currency and on locking in protection,” he said. The AMWU understands their frustration and thinks the requirements for developers to submit industry participation plans could be stronger. The $500 million compulsory threshold could have been lowered to $250 million with leeway for special projects below that to be nominated by Cabinet. Developers of projects under $50 million should also be able to submit AIPPs if they wish, with detailed summaries of all draft plans published on the web for the community to scrutinise. If the size and standards of every project package had to be broken down and explained, it would be harder for developers to hide behind projects of $1 billion-plus which they know are usually too big for local shops to bid for. And local businesses also need accelerated depreciation on their equipmment, to help them re-tool so they can compete with overseas yards.

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n Queensland, three massive plants worth $60 billion are being built by 4000 workers on Curtis Island off Gladstone where Coal Seam Gas is pumped hundreds of kilometres from the Surat Basin to be converted to Liquid Natural Gas.

The three biggest players are Gladstone LNG, part-owned by Santos; Queensland Curtis LNG, part-owned by the Queensland Gas Company and Australia Pacific LNG; part-owned by Origin. No one knows exactly what the local content contribution to Queensland’s gas industry is, but AMWU Queensland Secretary Rohan Webb doesn’t dispute industry estimates that it’s no more than 10-15 per cent. The uncompetitively high Australian dollar is up against a discounted Chinese Yuan. But most of all the entrenched arrangements between major players and existing suppliers have locked out many local firms from the supply chain.

Lines of gas-water separators imported by Santos from China to the Surat Basin

The industry finds itself at 50 per cent capacity in metals and machinery. Fabricated steel used by Bechtel to build three massive LNG plants on Curtis Island off Gladstone is brought from overseas. Sections of the plant arrive in modular form partly because Queensland industry never developed that capacity. AMWU members hired to lay more than 1200km of pipeline to funnel the coal seam gas from the wellheads in the Surat Basin report that it is being made mostly in China, often of unsuitable quality.

found metals fabrication firms near the bottom in areas including global awareness, performance management and employee involvement. That’s why the Labor Government’s jobs plan introduced the Australian Industry Participation Authority, which includes experts with inside knowledge to help medium-size or smaller firms make those links and to enforce Australian content and standards.

And the AMWU has discovered that 6000 gas-water separator vessels sitting on wellheads for the Surat Basin coal seam gas fields will be almost all imported.

It will perform the functions that the Newman Government has left to industry self-regulation, unless an Abbott Coalition is elected in September as they have condemned the local content plans as “more red tape.”

As in WA, a consistent dribble of work comes to shops in Brisbane where the imported piping or other steel structures are found to be faulty and have to be set right or replaced. It’s not enough.

But if the Authority and the politicians backing it are not prepared to come down hard on corporations, local experts agree the content rules will continue to be largely symbolic.

But that’s how Fernando Prenol, an AMWU delegate, found the only piece of work that his employer, nationwide pipeline systems specialists Pentair, has sourced from the Surat Basin so far.

Water engineering firm Aquatec Maxcon has secured work at its Ipswich yard from the gasfields and from Bechtel on Curtis Island, though it has offset the high dollar by also having operations in Thailand so it can quote jobs lower – and subsidise its Australian operations.

A welder mate was stuck with inferior foreign-made pipes, the common problem of too much carbon content making them too brittle, and faced an urgent deadline. “He was desperate, we did him three critical sections of piping within eight days,” Mr Prenol recallled. “He said no one else could have done it.” With 100 permanent skilled tradespeople and few orders beyond August, Pentair is typical of many fabrication firms in the Wacol industrial area near Ipswich desperately needing large contracts. Yet firms like Pentair, with its background including supplying piping to the entire South East Queensland water grid and power utilities, has not been able to break into the resources sector work and compete with the imported product. The company is certain it could make high-quality items including separator vessels.

Maxcon’s marketing manager Sam Maggio said local companies often put in their best tender only to lose out and see the potential client take their proposals back to a competitor in China. “It’s not only us, everyone you talk to will tell you the same thing,” he said. Maxcon near Ipswich is one of the only local suppliers of gas train separator vessels for Origin Energy’s CSG wells in the Surat Basin, the first $2 million of what Mr Maggio hopes will be a stream of contracts. It has also made nine huge gas storage tanks for the Curtis Island gas companies. Managing director Peter Grbin says that for Australian Industry Participation Plans to work, contracts must be policed to ensure Australian contractors carry out the work at home as promised.

“We urgently need to diversify, to secure tier production – we only make a Rolls Royce- quality product but we have the depth of skills to do so much more,” Fernando Prenol said.

“The way it’s done now, some Australian companies win the work but they don’t say it will all be built here, they’re registered here but quietly they go offshore. Cost rules, it’s the dollar,” he said.

While the resource developers overlook local suppliers, Queensland’s fabrication industry has never had many companies of the scale and size needed to meet the complex tender specifications of the major international companies.

“Let me have a look at the (Australian Jobs) Bill and see if they’ve shut that loophole.”

An official survey of 300 Queensland businesses

But at least the Labor Government is having a go through its local content Authority and that’s something all AMWU members should consider when they go to the polling booth on Federal Election day. AMWUNEWS

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Employers caught crying poor in national apprentices case

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pioneering AMWU study of apprentice wages has blown a hole in company complaints to the Fair Work Commission they can’t afford to pay first year trainees a better wage.

The study of 253 apprentices showed that the AMWU’s case to boost the first-year wage to above half the adults’ trade rate would add no more than 2.53 per cent to the wages bill for apprentices. The minimal impact on manufacturers is shown by AMWU analysis calculating that the average wages bill for each apprentice would increase by just 49 cents per hour, from $19.33 to $19.82. The total rise in manufacturing employers’ expenses would be just 0.07 per cent. The findings were presented to a Fair Work Commission wage case led by the AMWU. Witnesses told of the struggle some have in trying to survive on pay well below the minimum wage – as little as $7.80 an hour for first-years. Commissioners were told some apprentices could not afford to pay for accommodation when doing block release training in another

TAFE training fees and travel expenses. “It’s (about) low wages, travel costs and not enough workplace instruction, advice or opportunity to practice new skills,” said AMWU head researcher Sally Taylor. The cost findings for employers were presented to the Commission’s inquiry by AMWU economist Nixon Apple. Because the AMWU claim was largely targeted at first-year apprentices and adult apprentices the impact is strictly limited.

Valuable workers: AMWU Field Officer, Greg Warren, tells apprentices about the case to improve their wages and conditions

town or city, with “couch surfing” among friends common. The manager of auto apprenticeships at the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Muller, said during his time as a trainer at Box Hill he saw apprentices sleeping in their cars as the only way to attend TAFE. The AMWU joined with the ACTU and other unions in making the

case for raising the wages of first year apprentices to 50-60 per cent of the adult trades’ rate, which would be the first boost in 33 years. A prime aim is to stop the unacceptably high drop-out rate among apprentices. Our union is also seeking to boost retention by dropping the adult apprentice starting age from 21 to 20 and to ensure employers pay

“We would suggest to the Commission that it is hard to envisage a realistic scenario where the AMWU proposed changes represent more than a three per cent weighted average increase in the apprentice wages bill of (manufacturing) employers,” Mr Apple said. The AMWU’s formal claim for a junior apprentice with Year 10 school standard is a 19 per cent pay increase, from just $7.80 per hour to $9.29 per hour. The Commissioners have now adjourned to consider their decision.

Labor urged to ban Sensis offshoring jobs

W

orkers at Telstra subsidiary Sensis have authorised their AMWU officials to exert maximum pressure on the Labor Government to prohibit the telco giant from carrying out its plans to offshore their jobs to India.

A union rally of hundreds of Sensis workers and supporters voted unanimously to amend legislation before Parliament to not only obligate Telstra to provide the White and Yellow Pages, but to produce them in Australia. AMWU members have ramped up the campaign to save the 700 online and print production jobs by seeking meetings with senior Ministers, including Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, urging Labor to pass the amendment. AMWU National Print Secretary Lorraine Cassin warned Teltra and

10

AMWUNEWS

to re-locate graphic design, quality assurance and administrative tasks for both digital and print to India. This was despite delegates presenting Sensis with valid options that would have enabled operations to stay profitably onshore at less cost. “They called it a consultation period before a final decision, but we think they were only stalling to try and erode the initial anger felt by members – that hasn’t happened,” said one delegate. Jobs flying offshore: a paper plane protest at an AMWU rally at Telstra HQ in Melbourne

Sensis management the union would keep fighting and making sure the public knew all about the issue until they gave up on plans to offshore skilled jobs that were still bringing profits to Australia. “My message from members to Telstra is clear – we’re not going to lie down, we are going to fight you,” she told the rally. She said Australian unions would use

their strong international links to find the Indian firms and expose low-paid employment conditions which Telstra planned to use to save labour costs. A powerful alliance including the Community and Public Sector Union, the CEPU, the Finance Sector Union and the Australian Services Union are supporting the Sensis campaign . CEO John Allen told delegates the company would proceed with its plans

The AMWU will be pointing out to Senator Conroy that the 700 Sensis jobs were high-technology, high-skill and large contributors to the $600 million profit last year. AMWU delegates have put a ban on any co-operation with management offers to induce staff to travel to India to train workers there to take over their jobs. “You wouldn’t help a burglar break into your house to steal a bit of loot that was yours anyway,” said AMWU head delegate Chris Breen.


NEWS

MAKERS W

hen a worried police chief shows off a lethal plastic gun “printed” at home from a design on the web, as the NSW Commissioner did recently, you know there’s something radical happening to how we make things.

The use of three dimensional printers and associated digital technology like laser cutters is being labelled a new industrial revolution and we are already moving through its early phases. This extension of digital design to manufacturing will have profound consequences for the way we work, organise our cities and societies which go way beyond the technology itself. Author Chris Anderson calls its worldwide pioneers “Makers,” successors to the small entrepreneurs of Britain’s early industrial era. He proposes in his book Makers the value balance in products is moving from the intellectual property – the copyright – to the physical item produced itself. Now the easy access to 3-D printing or additive manufacturing – think a laser printer which moulds and makes the product part rather than just printing a design on paper – means that “Makers” can afford to keep control over their own

invention, including supervising production. AMWU members have first hand experience of the impact of digital technology, particularly across the printing and publishing industries and Anderson explains the way in which this new additive technology will impact right across manufacturing including in the metal trades. While some complex items like cars will continue to be more cheaply mass produced, millions of personal and household products will be able to be customised for each individual consumer and made locally. The technology allows individual consumers to search the internet for the item they want – for example a new part for a washing machine; a vase or a picture frame – and then send the details to their local printer like Office Works to have it made. Soon many homes and offices may have their own 3-D printers. Anderson is enthusiastic about the collaboration between “Makers” where copyright declines and

everyone is free to copy and improve on each other’s product. But that idyll may not last, depending on the response from government and big business. It is likely that we are in for a real shake-up of mass production and global distribution with more localised manufacturing resulting in less transport and storage and a loss of comparative advantage for countries with cheap labour costs. If much of mass production devolves back into thousands of tiny, customised “desktop” workshops, what is the future of trade unions? How will we organise and defend decent, standardised working conditions in an economy like that? That’s a future shock that Chris Anderson, ever the optimist, doesn’t address in what is a wondrous and worrying look at a future already coming upon us. The AMWU has 50 copies of Makers to give away. Please email news@amwu.asn.au with your name, home address and membership number or mail an entry to AMWU News, 2nd floor, 251 Queensberry St., Carlton South, Victoria 3053.

S W E N rief in b

SPANIARDS TAPPED OVER 457 VISAS

people are not exploited.”

THE AMWU has urged the Immigration Department to hasten its inquiry into a Spanish company believed to have imported 457 visa workers to a Northern Territory mine on wages half of that paid to locals. The department’s compliance branch is investigating suspected rorting of the 457 system by contractor ESPA Pacific at the McArthur River zinc and lead mine, 900km south of Darwin.

pressure on the Liberal-National NSW Government for fear it will offshore the huge opportunity for jobs and industry from the $9 billion North West (NW) Rail Link.

at Qantas have approved a landmark agreement delivering wage rises upwards of 17 per cent with new career opportunities for those performing daily aircraft maintenance.

They are demanding that the O’Farrell Government lock in a local content policy which would see at least 75 per cent of the steel, building materials, components and rolling stock sourced from Australian companies.

The agreement provides incentives for more maintenance members to progress to qualified A licence aircraft engineers.

The situation was uncovered by AMWU organiser Bryan Wilkins during talks at the mine with owner Xstrata. It is among dozens of potential 457 visa rorts the AMWU is looking into across Australia. Mr Wilkins said he had been told by AMWU members with other contractors that ESPA Pacific employs about 12 diesel fitters on 457 visas, paying an average of about $5000 per month before tax, which would equate to $21 per hour. By comparison, on-site tradespeople on similar hours are paid $45 per hour. The AMWU supports the Federal Government’s tightening of a system open to exploitation of foreign workers. “Skills shortages are best overcome through a combination of training and permanent migration,” said AMWU National Secretary Paul Bastian. “While there is a 457 visa system however, it is our job to make sure it works properly for all workers and that

LOCAL CONTENT MISSING LINK IN SYDNEY RAIL AMWU members have stepped up

and the Rouse Hill area, will require more steel than the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

ENGINEERS’ CAREERS FLY AMWU members

It recognises the increased responsibility that AMWU members already have for the daily line maintenance of modern passenger aircraft, including tasks and inspections between flights which in the past had to be signed off by Licensed Aircraft Engineers. While the Labor Government’s $1 billion jobs plan may require NW Rail Project tenderers to submit Australian Industry Participation Plans, there is concern the Abbott Opposition would scrap the vital local content framework if it wins power. A rally at Epping Station heard concerns that the NSW Government had refused to prioritise local work on this vital infrastructure. The NW Rail Link, to be built between Chatswood

It features improved trades wage rates at all levels topped by an all-purpose allowance of $70 to $115 weekly payment for those who get issued an A licence. The agreement could boost wage levels by $8000 to $10,000 per year for members who hold an A licence. Annual wage increases will be 3 per cent minimum but are expected to average 4.29 per cent over the four-year deal. AMWUNEWS

11


Delegate Profile JODIE Wilson News Limited, Victoria

I

’ve worked at the Westgate print works of the Herald and Weekly Times (News Limited) for eight years as a publishing operator. Women make up about a fifth of our workforce, though everyone is treated equally. You’re judged on how you get the job done.

I started as a casual so I know how badly they’re treated - my boss told me I couldn’t be in a union! When I became a delegate three years ago, we realised they were not being paid correctly, for weekends, for using forklifts, for their Christmas Day entitlement. I knew we had to fix it. It took a lot of persistence against management, over a year, but eventually they were ordered to give

the backpay – up to $3000 over six years for some people. Its inspiring to be selected for this year’s Helen Davis Award, named after our first Victorian female union official. At our inaugural National Womens’ Conference this year, we agreed that the problems women face in the workplace have to be pushed hard. When you first become a delegate and you have issues to deal with, it’s really reassuring to have someone you can ring up, talk to about strategy and the emotional impact of things. The

organiser can’t be there all the time, so we’re working on a “buddy” or mentor system among our women delegates. Bullying is a massive issue and it’s good the government is making employers take it seriously, but more can be done. We’ll build our networking to give women members support. There is a tendency for women to underplay themselves. We want them to have the confidence to speak up. I’ve always worked in male-dominated industries and I think it’s a matter of being able to hold your own, in

showing them your value by your contribution. It’s knowing when to back off but also when to tell them, “hey, that’s not okay.” The award also means I’m an observer at our State and National Conferences. In Victoria, I’ve seen how ideas from the members become written submissions, are formally debated and may be implemented. It‘s an eye-opener to see that democratic process but a lot of members are oblivious to it, so I want to encourage even more involvement.

ESSENTIAL www.amwu.org.au CONTACTS email: amwu@amwu.asn.au AMWU National Office Location: Level 4,133 Parramatta Road, Granville Postal: PO Box 160, Granville, NSW 2142.............................................. (02) 8868 1500 2nd Floor, 251 Queensberry St, Carlton South, VIC 3053 ............................................... (03) 9230 5700

Bendigo ................................................. (03) 5442 5101 Dandenong ............................................ (03) 9701 3044 Geelong ................................................. (03) 5229 9358 Latrobe ................................................. (03) 5134 3306 Portland ................................................ (03) 5523 2525 Shepparton ........................................... (03) 5822 2510

NSW Branch Location: Level 1, 133 Parramatta Road, Granville Postal: PO Box 167, Granville, NSW 2142 ............................................ (02) 9897 4200 Albury/Wodonga ................................... (02) 6024 1099 Newcastle ............................................. (02) 4954 3215 Western Region .................................... (02) 6337 7162 Wollongong ............................................(02) 4229 7611

QLD Branch Location: 366 Upper Roma Street, Brisbane Postal: PO Box 13006 George Street, QLD 4003.............................................. (07) 3236 2550 Gladstone .............................................. (07) 4972 5319 Mackay .................................................(07) 4953 0550 Rockhampton ....................................... (07) 4927 1487 Townsville ............................................. (07) 4771 5960

VIC Branch 1st Floor, 251 Queensberry St, Carlton South, VIC 3053 ............................................... (03) 9230 5700 Albury/Wodonga.................................... (02) 6024 1099 Ballarat .................................................. (03) 5332 2910 AMWUNEWS 12

SA Branch 1st Floor 229 Greenhill Road, Dulwich, Postal: GPO BOX 1051, Adelaide SA 5001 .................................(08) 8366 5800 Whyalla ..................................................(08) 8645 7115

WA Branch 121 Royal Street, East Perth, WA 6004................................................ (08) 9223 0800 Bunbury ................................................ (08) 9721 7933 Henderson............................................. (08) 6498 9382 Karratha................................................. (08) 9185 4078 TAS Branch 28 Station Street, Moonah, TAS 7009 .............................................. (03) 6228 7099 Burnie ................................................... (03) 6431 1344 ACT Office Canberra ................................................(02) 6273 2412 NT Office 1st Floor, 38 Woods Street, Darwin NT 0800..................................................(08) 8941 1511


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