The Australian Worker Magazine Issue 2 2012 by Henry Armstrong

THE AUSTRALIAN

www.awu.net.au $4.50 (INC GST)

ISSUE 2 2012

WORKER THE AWU’S F FIGHT IGHT TO SAVE AUSTRALIAN JOBS

GLOBAL VIEW

INTERNATIONAL N E O UNIONISM AT WORK

SPECIAL REPORT

MINING INDUSTRY SHAKE-UP

INSIDE:

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH THE NATIONAL SECRETARY

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CONTENTS

FEATURES 06 BACK TO WORK

The so-called two-speed economy is putting enormous pressure on the manufacturing, government and services sectors. Whenever you turn on the news there are stories of factories closing downs and people losing their jobs. But there is hope – AWU Branches are ﬁghting back.

10 IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST When the Reserve Bank (RBA) announces an interest rate change, there is always a level of panic. But why is the interest rate so important for Australian industry and what is its impact on our lives?

IT’S ALL MINE It’s no news that Australia is riding high on a resources boom. Now there is a growing reliance on special-visa migrant workers and it’s changing the face of the industry for workers. We explore the complexities of the mining industry and the billionaires who control it.

18 GLOBAL UNITY

Economic globalisation and transnational corporations are now shaping modern working life, so international links between unions are more important than ever. We welcome IndustriALL – a new global union set to ﬁght for universal rights for workers around the world.

22 CASUAL RELATIONSHIPS Casual employment is attractive to many women, as ﬂexible hours can often work well with family obligations. But is it all good? We look at casual employment and its worrying downside.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AWU Branches are the major point of contact for members. But the Union’s National Ofﬁce plays an important role in running high-proﬁle campaigns and setting the Union’s overall agenda. We go “on the road” to see the Union at work on a federal level.

REGULARS 04 National Opinion 34 Frontline News 47 Meet the Delegates/Ofﬁcials 50 Bindi & Ringer

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AWU EDITOR Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary AWU EXECUTIVE OFFICER Henry Armstrong AWU NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Stewart Prins AWU NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Davor Schwarz Address: Level 10, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Email: members@nat.awu.net.au Website: www.awu.net.au Telephone: (02) 8005 3333 Facsimile: (02) 8005 3300 ACP CUSTOM MEDIA EDITOR Kyle Rankin ART DIRECTOR Iain Martin SUB-EDITOR Graham Lauren EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Melissa Martin PRODUCTION SERVICES Peter Woodward PREPRESS SUPERVISOR Klaus Müller PUBLISHER, ACP CUSTOM MEDIA & BOOKS Sally Wright PUBLISHING MANAGER Nicola O’Hanlon ACP MAGAZINES CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACP MAGAZINES Matthew Stanton PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Gerry Reynolds Published for The Australian Workers’ Union (ABN 28 853 022 982) by ACP Magazines Ltd (ACN 18 053 273 546), 54-58 Park St, Sydney NSW 2000. © 2012. All rights reserved. Printed by PMP, Clayton, Vic 3168 and cover printed by Webstar, Silverwater, NSW 2128. Distributed by Network Services, 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Articles published in The Australian Worker express the opinion of the authors and not necessarily ACP Magazines Ltd. While all efforts have been made to ensure prices and details are correct at time of printing, these are subject to change. ISSN 1324-4094

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

NATIONAL OPINION

BI LL LU DW IG

Bill Ludwig National President Queensland Branch Secretary

“Now, more than ever, trade unionists must ensure that our basic liberties are not thrown out the window by our conservative foes.”

I read recent media reports concerning the tentative restoration of formal diplomatic relations between the Australian government and the military government of Fiji, led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama. Many AWU members may ask: “So what? What do the events in Fiji have to do with me here in Australia?”. At a superﬁcial level, what is going on in Fiji may have no immediate effect on the working lives of ordinary Australians. But I would ask AWU members to reﬂect for a minute on what has transpired in the island nation of Fiji over the course of the last 20 years. Successive coups have seen constitutional protections suspended; the rule of law truncated; and free speech, the right to free association and the right to collective bargaining swept aside. Unionists have been imprisoned in Fiji by this military junta for doing nothing more than speaking up and seeking to protect the safety and employment conditions of workers. Some Fijian trade union leaders have been forced to escape the country, leaving their families and friends behind, to evade beatings and imprisonment. Laws have been enacted by the military rulers to prevent more than three people meeting at any

Daniel Urai, President, and Felix Anthony, Secretary, of the Fiji Trades Union Congress and other unionists have suffered human rights abuse from their country’s military dictatorship.

Cesar Melhem Victorian Branch Secretary

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one time, under pain of arbitrary arrest by police and military forces. There is no free press. Judiciary independence has been compromised. And free and fair elections have not been held for years. The sad thing for working Australians is that we are always but the stroke of a pen away from similar misfortune. In my State of Queensland, the former Bjekle-Petersen Government banned the right of citizens to publicly march in protest. Many people during the 1970s and ‘80s were arrested for participating in this most basic of human rights. The Police Special Branch kept secret ﬁles on citizens, shredding them when the conservative government lost its grip on power in the late ‘80s. Conspiracy laws were enacted by Joh BjeklePetersen to make it an offence for more than a handful of Queenslanders to freely meet in public. This empowered police to make arbitrary arrests on events that they deemed to be “suspicious”. As I write this, the Newman Government has made void all terms and conditions in state public sector awards and agreements that relate to “employment security” or “no contracting-out” – all done literally with the stroke of a pen. No consultation. No debate. We must be mindful of what is happening in our region and the way that conservative governments can easily strip away rights and protections that we often take for granted. I’ve done a few laps around the paddock in my time as an AWU ofﬁcial, and I have seen governments come and go, but the one enduring thing that keeps us strong – whether we are talking about our own union or society in general – is our unity and sense of common purpose. Now, more than ever, AWU members and other unionists must hold rank, speak with a united voice, and ensure that our basic liberties are not thrown out the window by our conservative foes.

Russ Collison Greater NSW Branch Secretary

Stephen Price West Australian Branch Secretary

Wayne Hanson South Australian Branch Secretary

Photography: Faifax Photos/Getty

LESSONS TO BE LEARNT FROM FIJI

PAU L HOW ES

FIGHTING FOR AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY We all want Australia to be a place that makes things, and one of the things that Australia should be making is aluminium. Australia sits on top of one third of the world’s bauxite resources – the most common aluminium ore. We have access to competitive power, and a highly skilled labour force. In short, we have everything you need to build a world-class downstream processing industry that adds value to our raw materials. But times are tough in Australia’s aluminium industry. The combination of the high Australian dollar, and a low global price on the London Metals Exchange, has put pressure on the whole aluminum supply chain in Australia. We’ve already seen some major casualties. The closure of the Norsk Hydro smelter at Kurrie Kurrie in the Hunter Valley is a tragedy for the 350 workers at the plant, and will have a huge impact on the local community. But in all the gloom, we have still had some important wins. In Tasmania, the Pacific Aluminium smelter at Bell Bay has signed a new power deal with Hydro Tasmania. The AWU worked closely with the Tasmanian Government and Pacific Aluminium to help reach an agreement over the power contract. The 13-year deal gives some muchneeded security to the Bell Bay workforce. In Victoria, the federal government has provided a rescue package to Alcoa to ensure its Point Henry smelter remains open. And a few months ago the AWU sent a senior delegation to Pittsburgh in the USA to meet with Alcoa to discuss ways of keeping the site operational. We’re confident that the government assistance package will be a turning point for the Point Henry site, and will put the smelter on a path back to profitability. While these developments are good, there is more work to be done. That’s why I talked about

“picking winners” and “industry planning” in my speech to the National Press Club, and why the AWU has called for National Gas Reservation Policy to secure competitively-priced energy for major export industries like aluminium. State and Federal Governments need to be active players in our economy, and get behind our job-generating industries. That doesn’t mean obligation-free hand-outs or putting up oldfashioned tariff barriers – it means working out how we can make industries more efﬁcient, more competitive and more successful, and making the investments needed to achieve those things. It sounds like common sense, but many politicians and commentators still can’t accept that governments have a role to play in building successful industries. They want to leave it to “the market”. Of course, the market doesn’t care if workers lose their jobs, if families can’t pay the mortgage, or if towns wither and die. The market doesn’t care if industries like aluminium unravel. The AWU does care, and we will do everything we can to keep our major industries alive. It won’t be easy, and we will have defeats, but our union is up for the challenge. It’s a ﬁght that we have to have.

Paul Howes National Secretary

“... the market doesn’t care if workers lose their jobs, if families can’t pay the mortgage, or if towns wither and die.”

We all want Australia to be a place that makes things, and one of the things that Australia should make is aluminium.

POST YOUR LETTERS TO: The Editor, The Australian Worker, Level 10, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Ian Wakeﬁeld Tasmanian Branch Secretary

Wayne Phillips Port Kembla Branch Secretary

Richard Downie Newcastle Branch Secretary

Norman McBride Tobacco Branch Secretary

OR EMAIL THEM TO: members@nat.awu.net.au

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

WORK ISSUES

BACK TO

WORK The so-called two-speed economy is pu!ing enormous pressure on the

manufacturing, government and services sectors. Whenever you turn on the news there are stories of factories closing downs and people losing their jobs. But there is hope. Donna Reeves reports on how AWU Branches are Þghting back.

hile Australia’s resources sector continues to prosper, the rest of the economy is stuck in second gear. The manufacturing sector is doing it particularly tough, but the pain is also being shared by government workers and the services sector. The latest ﬁgures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics bear out the crisis that is undermining the country’s manufacturing industry. They reveal that over the past four years, 97,200 jobs have disappeared from the manufacturing sector. In June, the Australian Industry Group Performance of Manufacturing Index showed that the manufacturing sector had contracted for the fourth straight month. “Australia’s manufacturers are being hit by a record-high dollar that is roughly 50 per cent above its post-ﬂoat average, high input

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costs driven by surging commodity prices and increasing competition for labour,” AWU National Secretary Paul Howes says. “This is occurring at the conclusion of a period when Australia has become a high-cost country relative to our competitors. The problems in manufacturing and in the services sector are being hidden in the national accounts by the resources boom.” Paul believes the labour movement must stand up for jobs in this difﬁcult environment, and that industries such as manufacturing and services will be the key to our economic future once the resources boom subsides. “We can’t allow our economy to become a one-trick pony, reliant solely on the strength of mining exports,” Paul says. “We need to build our capacity in sectors like manufacturing and agriculture, because our

bedrock industries will be as important to our future as they have been to our past.” With that in mind, AWU Branches are campaigning hard to retain jobs and skills right around Australia. It’s a tough ﬁght, but it’s not just the livelihoods of thousands of workers at stake – it’s also the economic future of the country.

GREATER NSW BRANCH

Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison

AWU Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison has seen his members hit hard over the past few years. He blames dumping – where overseas

Photography: Getty

companies bring in their products and dump them in the local market at a cheap price – and “disgraceful” procurement policies by both state and federal governments as a major factor in Australia’s manufacturing crisis. “With all of the work being done in this country, the procurement policies by governments are a disgrace,” Russ says. “In New South Wales, there are massive projects being done – tunnels, roads, construction – and, as far as procurement is concerned, the government doesn’t care. They’ll buy the cheapest commodities they can get, and they don’t care if it comes from overseas.” Like other countries, Australia needs to start protecting its markets and jobs, Russ says. “I understand that people say you can’t put protectionist policies in place because it’s a free market, but that’s bullshit. “The quicker we understand that other countries are protecting their jobs, the better. If we do nothing, this country is just going to end up being a warehouse.” Russ remembers when precarious work meant, “some poor buggers working on a ship, pulling it to pieces and cutting it up when they didn’t have the correct protective clothing.” Nowadays, he says precarious work is about labour hire and the effects of outsourcing, and not knowing from one day to the next whether you’ll be required at work. It’s a workplace reality that is facing the employees at BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace), which maintains Qantas’ planes. Russ says management is talking about bringing in new planes that need less maintenance, and also about outsourcing maintenance overseas. If it happens, hundreds of workers are at risk of redundancies. “The changing of the aircraft is ongoing, and it’s continually going to occur with upgrading of planes, but the outsourcing of maintenance overseas is always a threat. “Outsourcing is probably the biggest scourge on the manufacturing industry in this country, and across the world,” he says. Recently, Caltex announced plans to close its petrol refinery at Kurnell in two years, putting more than 700 people out of work. Caltex has already closed its lube refinery in Kurnell, which made motor oil greases and bitumen. As a result, Continental Carbon, which sat next door and was dependent on by-products from its lube refinery to make carbon black, also closed. Caltex is looking to import its refined oil from Singapore.

“Caltex is motivated by profit,” Russ says. “If they think they can maintain their profit margin by importing refined fuel from Singapore, then that’s what they’ll do. I don’t think they’re a corporate citizen that sees themselves as having to provide Australian jobs to refine fuel.” Russ Collison says the AWU has launched a strong campaign to save the refinery and is trying to exert pressure on Caltex’s major retain partner – Woolworths. “AWU members at Kurnell have banded together and launched a campaign with a website, a facebook page and a video,” Russ says. “There’s been advertisements in newspapers and members have also been handing out flyers and waving placards at petrol stations. “Hundreds of people have already sent emails to the CEO of Woolworths telling him to fill up on Aussie fuel. The determination of the Caltex workers to save their refinery is really inspirational,” he says.

Like many other countries, Australia needs to start protecting its markets and jobs.

NEWCASTLE BRANCH AWU Newcastle Branch Secretary Richard Downie says Newcastle is facing a challenging year, with around 600 Newcastle Branch Secretary Richard Downie people expected to lose their jobs since Norsk Hydro formally conﬁrmed in June its decision to shut its Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter in December. The smelter is the oldest operated by the company, and the proposed closure will be, he says, “the biggest news story this year and for some time to come, hopefully, since the closure of BHP 1999. “I had a feeling it was going to close, and I wasn’t surprised at the announcement, but it’s still a shock because this is a company we are close to, and that we’ve been in consultation with for many, many years,” he says. The closure is attributed to the high Australian dollar and the low price of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange.

Thankfully, the economy in Newcastle is strong due to the coal industry, so many retrenched workers may be able to find employment elsewhere. But, Richard says, “This doesn’t detract from the fact that we don’t know, and won’t know for some time, how many people are still going to be out of work and trying to find other suitable work.” Richard Downie says the AWU has been very active in doing everything it can to protect our manufacturing jobs,” Richard says. “The Union has been arguing strongly for policies that increase local content in all Australian projects and driving home the ‘buy Australian, use Australian’ message.” Even with the Hydro smelter closure, Richard is optimistic that Newcastle has a bright future. “While we’ve got the coal fields putting money into the general economy, we’ll be okay, because that helps manufacturing. Those organisations that supply products to the mining sector – especially the longestablished ones – are going to do well. I look at it as a glass half-full, not a glass half-empty.”

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH When it comes to manufacturing in South Australia, two main industries have played a strong part in the South Australian Branch state’s economic Secretary Wayne Hanson development – the automotive industry and white goods. Sadly, time hasn’t been kind to either. Only one white goods manufacturer is left in the state – down from more than 10 in the 1960s. But there is optimism, AWU South Australian Branch Secretary Wayne Hanson says. This hope stems in part due to a $275 million federal government package announced in March to ensure General Motors Holden keeps manufacturing cars in Australia. The

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WORK ISSUES

crea created in the defence ind industry – South Australia h has contracts to build submarines and air warfare destroyers – but more needs to be done to arrest the manufacturing decline. “I just want people to be pre prepared to accept that there mus must be more adventure, there must be more investment to develop new industries,” Wayne says. With the high Australian dollar and low labour costs in many Asian countries, South Australia will have to ﬁnd new ways to compete in the manufacturing arena. “I’m talking about advanced manufacturing, niche markets that can run in parallel with traditional manufacturing industries that may arise as far as mining is concerned,” Wayne says. “I don’t think we’re doing enough in South Australia.”

“By talking to the people who make the decisions, we were able to make sure the voices of local workers were heard.”

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Workers at BAE Systems, who maintain Qantas planes, face a real risk of redundancy.

deal means Holden will stay in South Australia until at least 2022, saving around 2400 jobs. “The AWU fought hard to secure the future of Holden in South Australia,” Wayne says. “The Union was vocal in the media and organised a successful petition that attracted over 1600 signatures. Then the AWU took a delegation of workers to Canberra who presented the petition to the Minister. “It was great to see workers taking the initiative and getting involved in the campaign. By talking directly to the people who make the decisions, we were able to make sure the voices of local workers were heard.” Wayne says the Holden deal could have other spin-off beneﬁts for the local economy. “I’m pleased the government has enough conﬁdence in the industry to say it needs to keep the skill sets of people working at Holden, because then there is an opportunity to provide training and upskill people for other job opportunities that may come in,” Wayne says. Those opportunities may arise in jobs

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In the West, the resources boom is underpinning a strong state economy, with the lowest unemployment in West Australian Branch the country. But Secretary Stephen Price AWU Western Australian Branch Secretary Stephen Price says that doesn’t mean the state has escaped the problems in sectors like manufacturing. “Too often we’ve seen the big mining and resource companies look for quick proﬁts at the expense of local communities and the local workforce,” Stephen says. “But what is left behind once resource projects are ﬁnished, and the multinationals have packed up and left? “It’s important that we reinvest the spoils of the resource boom into infrastructure and industry development projects that will serve us for the long-term.” The AWU recently held its Aluminium Conference in Fremantle, where AWU National Secretary Paul Howes released the Union’s Aluminium Industry Plan. Stephen Price says a key recommendation of the plan was to introduce a National Gas Reservation Policy to stop resource companies from sending 100 per cent of their output overseas.

“Western Australia already has a gas reservation policy in place, but it does not cover gas projects in Commonwealth waters, and is applied on a case-by-case basis,” Stephen says. “A national gas reservation policy would help bring down the cost of energy for Australian manufacturers, and would ensure that we get better value from the development of our natural resources.” The use of overseas labour is also a hot issue in the West, especially following the decision to allow the Roy Hill mining project access to foreign workers under an Enterprise Migration Agreement. “The AWU’s position on Enterprise Migration Agreements is clear,” Stephen says. “Australian workers must come first. Jobs should be advertised in Australia so that local workers get the opportunity to fill them. “And when there is a demonstrated need for overseas workers to fill gaps for certain skills, then those workers get the same pay and conditions as their Australian counterparts.”

PORT KEMBLA The NSW Illawarra region is the heart of Australia’s steel industry, and so it is at the front-line of the economic challenges facing Australian Port Kembla Branch manufacturers. Secretary Wayne Phillips AWU Port Kembla Branch Secretary Wayne Phillips says the Federal Government’s Steel Transformation Plan has provided a $300 million lifeline for the Australian steel industry. “The AWU has been ﬁghting to support the steel industry in this country for generations – it’s the backbone of Australian manufacturing,” Wayne says. “We fought tooth and nail to get the right support for our manufacturing sectors through the debate on carbon pricing, including a special package for steel sector. “The plan was backed by both BlueScope and One Steel, because they know it’s crucial to helping the industry navigate the economic uncertainty ahead. “It’s sensible, considered policy designed to save steel jobs – helping steel makers through a challenging period. It is also designed to support investment and innovation in the steel industry.”

Wayne says the ﬁght to secure the future of steel would continue for the some time to come. “We have to keep the pressure up to maintain the viability of this critical industry,” he says. “That’s why the AWU has been arguing for a local content policy on major resource projects – so there is a legislated requirement for these projects to use Australian steel.”

Photography: Getty Images

TASMANIA AWU Tasmanian Branch Secretary Ian Wakefield says that because Tasmania is an island, one of the biggest issues facing its Tasmanian Branch manufacturing Secretary Ian Wakefield sector is transport: manufacturing firms rely on shipping and air freight networks to get their goods off the island and to mainland and overseas markets. In an effort to put Tasmania on a level playing field with mainland firms, the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES) was established to subsidise the cost of transporting goods across Bass Strait. When the TFES was introduced in 1976, Tasmania was serviced by a direct international shipping line, so exporters were not covered by the scheme. However, the state has since lost its direct international shipping service, which means Tasmanian exporters now have to ship their products via Melbourne. “This is driving up costs and making our exporters less competitive,” Ian says. “These manufacturers are already feeling the pressure of the high Australian dollar; they just can’t afford to be set back any further. “It’s time for the federal government to expand the TFES to include support for Tasmanian companies who export, and we’ve been pushing for that to happen.” Ian says the Union has been working with the state’s Economic Development Minister David O’Byrne to push the case for an extension of the TFES, and to find other ways to assist the island’s manufacturing exports. “We’ve also had some good news in recent months, with the TEMCO manganese plant at Bell Bay reopened after a threemonth shutdown,” he says. In addition, he says, Pacific Aluminium has agreed on a new energy contract with Hydro

Tasmania. “The AWU was closely involved in the negotiations – making sure the state government and the company understood the need for workers to have conﬁdence in the long-term future of the site. The result was a 13-year agreement, which will give security to both workers and the local community.”

VICTORIA Manufacturing in Victoria generates $110 billion in economic activity each year, and more than $15 billion in exports. ABS statistics show Victorian Branch that more than Secretary Cesar Melhem 311,000 Victorians are employed in manufacturing in something like 25,000 businesses. AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem says it’s a tough time, with the slowdown in manufacturing starting to bite. “We have seen a lot of jobs go, with redundancies among larger employers, and closures of small manufacturing companies,” Cesar says. “Ask a manufacturing worker how things are going, and a lot of them will tell you they feel insecure about the future.” However, the success stories are there. Bombardier Transportation, based in outer suburban Dandenong, makes trams and trains that are used in Victoria, as well as being sold to the world. “Bombardier is a classic example of a manufacturing enterprise with the smarts, and the support of local contracts have enabled it to sell its products internationally,” Cesar says. Declining capital investment and the need for workers to keep up skills are some of the issues that need to be tackled if manufacturing is to prosper. “The case of Alcoa at Point Henry is the perfect demonstration of this. We have two years ahead of us to see if investment and commitment on the part of governments, the company and workers can save the smelter and the many hundreds of jobs it generates,” Cesar says. “Federal government intervention at Alcoa, and in other key industries, has given a boost across the sector in Victoria.” But the performance of the Baillieu Government has left many Victorians wondering about its lack of ﬁght when it comes to saving jobs. “If we can get the right incentives in place,

then we’ll be halfway there,” Cesar says. “We desperately need the Victorian government to snap out of it and get serious about jobs.”

QUEENSLAND Things are heating up in the Sunshine State, with new Premier Campbell Newman declaring that Queensland is the “Spain” of Australia, and is at Queensland Branch risk of going Secretary Bill Ludwig bankrupt. While the Premier’s Spanish comparison was ridiculed by both economists and the media, Campbell Newman continues to insist that the sky is falling as he wages war on the State’s public service. According to the Premier, Queensland has 20,000 too many public servants, and he already started wielding the axe on a wide range of government programs. Now the Premier has redeﬁned “frontline services” to potentially bring another 25,000 public servants under the axe. AWU Queensland Branch Secretary Bill Ludwig says the cuts are short-sighted and will hurt Queenslanders. “By cutting health and other important programs, the State Government is creating a bigger problem for itself further down the track,” Bill says. “Many Queenslanders will not get the services they need, particularly in areas like health and housing, until their problems have escalated. “This means they will require more care, and the public system will be placed under more pressure.” Bill says the Newman Government appears to be in complete disarray, judging by the reported comments of mining billionaire and LNP donor Clive Palmer on the miniscule impact that these heavy public sector job cuts will have on the so-called $100 billion black hole. “The Newman Government should be ashamed about the way it mislead the community by failing to declare it’s plan to slash and burn services,” Bill says. “It might be time for the Premier to put the axe down and start listening to the wider community, including people from his own party. “But until the Premier does that, it will be up to the Queensland union movement to stand tall, stand up and stand together for those vital services that we all rely on.”

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

NATIONAL AGENDA

IN THE

NATIONAL INTEREST The first Tuesday of every month, bar January, when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announces whether it will flick the switch on Australia’s official interest rates (also known as the “cash rate”) seems to attract media frenzy similar to that reserved for Lady Gaga. Here, we take a look at the all-important interest rate and its impact on our lives.

n that day the decision to trim interest rates, lift, or defer changing them, is delivered by way of a statement from the RBA governor (since 2006, Glenn Stevens) on behalf of its board, which presently includes business heavies such as Fairfax Media chairman Roger Corbett, the recently retired chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, Heather Ridout, and former banker Gillian Broadbent. Following its most recent meeting, for example, on June 6, the RBA clipped the cash rate by 0.25 per cent (25 basis points) to 3.50 per cent. This followed another relatively sizeable 0.5 per cent rate cut on May 2. Those interested can find the history of the cash rate dating back to January 23, 1990, when it was nudging a suffocating 17 per cent, by visiting the RBA’s website at www.rba. gov.au and clicking on the “cash rate” tab.

SETTING THE CASH RATE Established by an Act of Parliament in 1959, the RBA is responsible for Australia’s monetary policy, gold reserves and reserves of foreign currencies, such as the US dollar and Chinese yuan. However, managing monetary policy is the RBA’s primary occupation, and this involves setting the cash rate on a monthly basis. Broadly speaking, the “cash rate” refers to the interest rate that financial institutions, such as the banks, pay to borrow (or charge to lend) money overnight. BT Financial Group chief economist Chris Caton says, “This measure is also known as the ‘interbank overnight rate’, and the

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Reserve Bank of Australia calculates and publishes the cash rate each day on the basis of data collected directly from the banks. “When the RBA decides a change in monetary policy should occur, it specifies a new target for the cash rate.” In other words, a decision to ease monetary policy is reflected with a cut in the cash rate to stimulate borrowing because the cost of borrowing is then lower, while a resolution to

IMPACT ON MANUFACTURING In his May address to the National Press Club, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said the struggle is on to save the manufacturing sector, which employs around one million Australians and, along with mining, contributes to about nine per cent of all goods and services produced in Australia. “Australian manufacturers are being hit by a record high dollar,” Paul Howes says. “The RBA has responsibility to consider the impact of interest rates on the value of the dollar, and the impact this has on the manufacturing sector” Australia has a relatively high cash interest rate compared to other major economies. In fact, official rates in economies such as Europe, the USA and Great Britain been hovering below 1 per cent, while Japan’s interest rate has been as low 0.1 per cent. Our higher interest rates have attracted international currency investors, who see the Australian dollar

“tighten” policy to constrain borrowing will involve an increase in interest rates. As for the next move, Caton says the financial markets have priced in a full per cent or more of additional cuts. “In my view, one has to be overly pessimistic about the Australian economy and/or the threats from abroad to believe this. It’s always wise to assume there’s at least one more cut coming, but that may well be enough.”

as a ‘safe haven’ offering higher returns. This has helped push the value of the dollar up by 70 per cent over the past three years. The Australian dollar, once derided as the ‘Pacific Peso’, is now riding high as one of the strongest currencies in the world. This might be good for people going on overseas holidays, but it’s deadly for exporters, especially in the manufacturing sector, who are trying to compete on international markets. With this in mind, BT Financial Group’s Chris Caton believes the recent interest rate cuts will help the manufacturing sector at the margins, if the Australian dollar also falls. AMP Capital’s Shane Oliver agrees that lower rates will provide short-term relief. However, he says other factors also need to be addressed to turn around the long-term decline of the Australian manufacturing sector. “Australian manufacturing has a future if it focuses on areas of natural advantage, such as our highly educated workforce.”

WILLL LOWER LO INTEREST RAT RATES RENTAL HELP ELP PEOPLE OFF THE RENTA TREADMILL? TR

Photography: Getty

IMPACT ON MORTGAGES According to financial-comparison website, RateCity.com.au, following the June 2012 interest rate cut of 0.25 per cent, only 32 lenders had dropped their standard variable mortgages by the middle of that month. Moreover, of the 32, only two lenders – ANZ and Unicredit (WA) – passed on the full 0.25 per cent rate cut. RateCity.com.au spokesperson Michelle Hutchison says, “The average rate cut for the [32] lenders was 20 basis points, which is 80 per cent of the RBA rate cut.” This result represented a marked improvement from May, when only 64 per cent of the RBA’s 0.5 per cent cut was passed on by lenders to their variablemortgage customers. Hutchison says that ever since the global financial crisis, and more so since November 2011, mortgage lenders were

tend ending tto o make m decisions out of step tending thos of the Reserve Bank. “This is with those not the first time the banks have moved independently of the RBA.” “This time it is a result of the cost of money increasing in the wake of the GFC, which has pushed up the rates offered by offshore lenders.” Overseas lenders such as foreign banks, corporations and governments issue bonds, which our banks buy (and trade). “This is like a loan our banks are buying for a certain period, and the bonds often come with a fixed-rate interest charge,” explains Hutchison. “When there’s a higher perceived risk, the overseas financiers demand an increased return on new loans, which our banks must pay and ultimately pass on to mortgage customers by way of higher interest rates.”

The combination of lower inte interest rates and falling real estate values val generally translates into improved impro housing affordability, which is critical to the home-ownership aspira aspirations of long-term tenants. In fact, si since November 2011, the RBA has slashed s the cash rate by 1.25 per cent, while average real estate values acro across Australia fell 2.9 per cent in the March quarter, the latest data from the th Real Estate Institute of Australia sug suggests. While applauding the Reserve Rese Bank for cutting interest rates, chief executive of national real estate group Raine & Horne, Angus Raine, says that whether more tenants take the plunge into a first home will depend as much on state government incentives as lower interest rates. “The NSW government, for example, has failed to recognise that first-home buyers rarely purchase new homes,” Raine says. “Its decision to cut stamp duty concessions in 2011 coupled with the termination of the $7000 First Home Owner Grant on existing homes from October 1, 2012, will do nothing to help aspiring home owners in Australia’s most populous state jump off the rental treadmill.”

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NATIONAL AGENDA

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

Table 1: RBA cash rate Vs average personal credit card rate 20.00% 18.00% 16.00% 14.00% 12.00% 10.00% 8.00% 6.00% 4.00% 2.00% 0.00%

RBA cash rate

Source: www.ratecity.com.au

Oct-11

Mar-12

May-11

Jul-10

Dec-10

Sep-09

Feb-10

Average personal credit card rate

Apr-09

In the past, credit card lenders have tended to pass on some of the RBA’s cash-rate reductions. However, since November 2011, when the latest round of cuts started, they have failed to deliver any interest rate reductions to their customers (see Table). It’s worth pointing out that if you’re not able to pay off your credit in full each month, there are lower cost, no-frills cards worth considering. In its June issue, Money magazine listed Community First Credit Union’s McGrath Pink Visa as the cheapest card on the market. “The rate for the McGrath Pink Visa was a low 9.75 per cent as at 21 June, 2012,” says John Tancevski, chief executive of Community First Credit Union. “We can deliver competitive rates because we’re a mutual financial institution, meaning we don’t have external shareholders to whom we must pay regular dividends.” He adds, “Not that we give credit cards to everyone. We do our due diligence on all credit card applicants.”

Jun-08

IMPACT ON CREDIT CARDS

existing customers get lower rates. It’s worth understanding that many accounts have a base rate along with the additional bonus rate. “The base rate generally follows the cash rate. So, the base rates have been falling but banks have been keeping the promotional rates steady or even increasing them to attract more customers.” Hutchison warns that it is important to understand where the base rate ends and the bonus rate starts. “The promotional rate may be five per cent but only runs for three months,” she warns. “However when the promotional rate ends, the rate reverts to the base rate only, which might be much lower.” Take NAB’s iSaver which, according to RateCity.com.au, in late June, offered a five per cent rate for four months. After the term is up, the rate reverts to a 3.5 per cent base rate.

Interest rate cuts are having less impact on cash accounts such as savings accounts, term deposits and online savers, Chris Caton says, because the banks, in attempt to break the reliance on foreign financers, are increasingly focusing on domestic funding. “As a consequence, the interest rates paid on savings accounts tend to move less than fully of the cash rate,” Caton explains. The banks want your money to prop up their mortgage businesses and are prepared to pay higher interest for it. The industry calls these promotional rates, which Michelle Hutchison says distorts the market for savings accounts. “In the past some accounts have dropped their base rate and increased their promotional rate so the maximum rate is the same, which is good for new customers while

Nov-08

The perception was that banks, credit unions and building societies tended to adjust their

charging exhorbitant credit card rates – a major issue given cost-of-living pressures. “Credit card rates of 20 per cent and above are unconscionable, and it angers me that nothing has been done about it,” he said. Dr Rebecca Valenzuela, from the Department of Economics at Monash University believes the key to keeping down rates is greater competition in the banking sector. In an article in The Age in April, she wrote, “I believe that banks set their own lending rates because they can – there is simply not enough competition within the banking industry to make them fear a massive exodus of clients.” She believes competition from small lenders and foreign banks should be encouraged.

IMPACT OF CUTS ON CASH RETURNS

Jan-08

HAS THE RBA LOST CONTROL?

lending interest rates in line with those of the RBA. However, over the last eight months, this hasn’t happened. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes says banks feel they don’t need to listen to the RBA when it comes to setting mortgage rates. At the National Press Club in May, he said banks were acting as a defacto cartel, and were aggressively exercising control over the market. “This power has consolidated since the GFC with the takeover of banks like St George and Bank West,” he said. “The same brazen banks are reliant on government policy to protect them from competition, and to protect their profits. Yet we allow them to impose their will over an important lever of macro-economic policy.” Paul Howes said banks were also

Aug-07

Alternatively, AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver predicts the cashrate will fall to around 2.75 per cent by year end, although the truth is that predicting interest rate movements is a mostly inexact science. In determining policy, the RBA must aim to strike the right balance by also doing its bit to help preserve price stability, full employment, economic prosperity and to keep inflation in check. To realise these objectives, the RBA has an “inflation target” that it adopted in 1996. Caton explains that the RBA, “aims to keep headline CPI inflation between two per cent and three per cent on average.” That said, when rates are slashed significantly, as they were in October 2008, by one per cent, this doesn’t automatically mean the RBA has misread the tea leaves on inflation and economic growth. Caton says, “It indicates the pace with which the global economic environment was deteriorating at the time, and the willingness of the RBA to move quickly.”

BIG ISSUE

ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALL

MINE

The rapidly growing reliance on special-visa migrant workers is changing the face of the mining industry. As Paul Robinson reports, this is good news for the big miners, but perhaps less so for Australian workers.

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

Photography: Newspix/Fairfax/Getty

he sweat of migrant workers has played a big part in the economic development of Australia. Whenever labour shortages threatened “progress”, importing short-term labour has been the go. Due to a manpower shortage caused by the gold rush, the first colonial railway tracks were laid by English “navvies” in the 1850s. Melanesian South Sea Islanders, or Kanakas, were brought into Queensland to cut sugar cane from the 1860s. The Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme (1949-74) was built on the backs of some 100,000 European workers from about 30 countries. Seasonal work, such as fruit and vegetable picking, is often done by backpackers or Melanesian temporary workers. Migrant workers have long filled an economic need, but have frequently been abused by unscrupulous employers offering substandard wages and conditions. Nothing much has changed. With the recent granting of the first Enterprise Migration Agreement (EMA) by the federal government to Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore development in the Pilbara, Western Australia, the industrial climate for Australian workers just got a lot more complicated. The EMA allows Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting to sponsor up to 1715 temporary overseas workers – boilermakers, electricians, fitters, scaffolders – for the three-year construction phase of the $9.5 billion project, a joint venture with South Korean companies POSCO and STX, and Marubeni Corporation of Japan. As part of its application for the new dispensation, the company assured the government that guest workers will comprise less than 20 per cent of the construction workforce, and guarantees to provide up to 2000 training positions, including for the Indigenous and mature-age, for Australians. It’s no secret that Australia is experiencing a resources boom. Largely driven by the almost insatiable Chinese demand for commodities, the mining sector in Western Australia and Queensland – and, to a lesser extent, the Northern Territory and South Australia – is in overdrive. And the mining workforce has increased by 167 per cent since 2003. Many of these new mining ventures are mega projects, several worth more than $30 billion, and it’s no secret that there is a substantial shortage of skilled workers in mining and several associated trades such as engineering and IT technologies. This demand is compounded by a demographic shift in Australia towards

GINA RINEHART The boss of Hancock Prospecting is the world’s richest woman, with a purported personal fortune of $29 billion. Rinehart inherited control of the under-performing company, which was reliant on royalties, after her father Lang Hancock’s death in 1992. The development of the Hope Downs iron ore mine in the Pilbara turned things around, moving into production with the acquisition of Rio Tinto as a partner in 2007. Rinehart’s personal fortune rose with the sale of Queensland coal and infrastructure assets to the Indian corporation GVK in late 2011. But the huge leap in her net worth occurred in January this year when South Korean steelmaker Posco paid $1.5 billion for a 15 per cent stake in the Roy Hill project, due to become operational in 2014. Lang Hancock considered “Canberraism” the single biggest obstacle to his ambition, and his daughter feels

much the same. In late 2010, she joined Fortescue Metals boss Andrew Forrest in a billionaires’ club campaign in opposition to the Rudd government’s proposed mining super profits tax. She then felt slighted when the Gillard government eventually struck a deal over the tax with major players Xstrata, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto while overlooking smaller outfits such as Hancock Prospecting. Deciding she wanted more influence on government policy through the media, Rinehart invested $165 million in TV station Channel Ten in November 2011 for a 10.1 per cent stake and a seat on the board. This was chickenfeed compared to her massive foray into Fairfax Media this year to become its largest single shareholder by buying a 15 per cent stake and aiming at a declared target of three seats on its board. This is the move of a woman who considers most journalists suspiciously left wing, rarely grants face-to-face interviews and is quick to threaten the big stick of litigation to dissuade media scrutiny.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

BIG ISSUE

All indicators suggest that employment in the resources sector is set to escalate.

an older population with more retirees and fewer people of a working age. Naturally, miners and employer organisations are screaming loudly for government assistance, saying that investment is at risk and that without overseas labour many of these projects will struggle or even fail completely. The Australian Mines and Metals Association predicts a rising demand for construction workers and associated tradies as more and more big projects come on line. The government estimates the resources industry will need an extra 89,000 workers by 2016, with Australia needing a peak of 49,000 short-term construction jobs in the resources sector in 2014. And a Queensland Resources Council Growth Outlook study in Queensland predicted that an additional 40,000 workers would be required by the resource sector within the decade. BHP Billiton announced in September last year that Australian mining would require an extra

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150,000 workers over the next five years. The resource industry, with Rinehart leading the charge, sees en masse short-term, semi-skilled migrant labour as the best solution to the problem. It is less enthusiastic or committed to training or re-skilling Australian workers to meet its boom-time needs. The federal government’s General Skilled Migration program provides for a range of visa options for skilled workers who want to live in Australia. There are initiatives to support regional development, but the key program imposing impacts on mining is Skills Australia Needs, which addresses current skill shortages in Australia by promoting skilled migration to fill job vacancies that cannot be filled within the local labour market. In general, businesses with skill shortages take the initiative to source workers from overseas, and recruiting and processing the application can take anywhere between one week and six

months, although the average is 23 days. The most common way of bringing migrant workers into Australia is to use the subclass 457 work visa. Introduced in 1996, the visa covers up to four years of employment and the applicant must have experience within the relevant industry and proﬁciency in English. Families can be included and the salary cannot be less than that offered to local workers doing the same job. The worker must be sponsored by an approved employer. The number of 457 visas issued in trade and technical areas grew by 75 per cent in 2010-11, and there was a 64 per cent increase in applications for positions in WA. As of March this year, there were more than 80,000 workers on 457 visas in Australia. Two categories in which there have been dramatic increases are electrical engineers and drillers. Enterprise Migration Agreements were ﬁrst proposed in 2010 to ease what was

presented as a chronic mining skills shortage. They were presented as one of the recommendations of the National Resources Sector Taskforce report in June 2011, which forecast some $380 billion in investment planned for resource projects, in turn leading to a shortfall of some 36,000 tradespeople by 2015. This impact will fall on mining states and major cities as workers are increasingly attracted to mining jobs. All overseas workers employed under EMAs will be on 457 visas. The basic average salary (as of June 2011) for a 457 visa holder working in the mining industry is $122,000. EMAs are umbrella agreements that apply only to extremely large projects – employing more than 1500 workers and worth more than $2 billion – on a case-by-case basis. So far, only four requests have been received, with Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill project so far the only one green-lit. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes says the Union believes in a big Australia, and does not oppose the use of overseas labour where there is a demonstrable need. “Overseas workers can bring new skills to our economy, and when they do come they should be encouraged to stay and contribute to our national success,” Paul says. “It’s essential, however, that Australian workers get ﬁrst bite of the cherry at new jobs. There must be a transparent process in place to show that employers have properly tested the local labour market before resorting to things like EMAs.” In the case of the Roy Hill project, the government approved the EMA application before any job ads were placed, or any testing of the local job market was undertaken. It was done on company say-so. Obviously, any consulting ﬁrm hired by a company to investigate whether there is a local skills shortage is most likely going to produce a study that serves company interests. It’s a no-brainer. The second major concern for the Union is a concern that foreign workers should not be exploited with inferior pay or substandard accommodation. Paul Howes says that whenever overseas labour is used, it is absolutely fundamental that those workers get the same treatment as their local counterparts. “We will not accept a situation where overseas labour is exploited, or cynically used to push down the pay and conditions of Australian workers,” he says. There have been several such instances. In February 2011, one incident revealed that Filipino drilling-rig workers on the Gorgon gas

ﬁeld off the Pilbara coast were being paid only $3 an hour. Chinese workers on the Hong Kong-listed CITIC Paciﬁc Limited’s Sino Iron project near Karratha, WA, were found to be working on half the pay rate of their Australian counterparts, and at its Cape Preston mine there have also been issues with exploitation and underpayment of foreign workers. Safety is also a worry. There have been instances of workers being hired as one thing and then employed as another, as in the case of Sean McBride. The Irish migrant was brought into Australia as a “project

CLIVE PALMER The owner of private company Mineralogy, which has access to some 160 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves in the Pilbara, Palmer should more strictly be labelled an assets investor rather than a mining magnate, as he is not directly involved in extracting minerals from the ground. He actually owns no mines. Palmer also has substantial investments in various natural resources companies, including coal and nickel. Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $8 billion in March this year. The Queenslander, who made his initial pile in real estate on the Gold Coast, is a loud opponent of the resources tax, and trumpets vehemently against any form of government

administrator” – but then put to work as a scaffolder on a project in Dampier, WA. He died in a maintenance accident in 2011. The EMA decision is heavily weighted on the side of the big employers and heavily dependent on their reassurances of compliance, with the beneﬁts for Australian workers being mostly on a hope and a promise – along the lines of “trust us to do the right thing” – to be delivered down the line. As Paul Howes says, “It’s a big win for Rinehart, it’s a big win for Palmer.” Just how big remains to be seen.

regulation, greeting the Roy Hill EMA announcement with: “We’ve got to get rid of all this bloody rubbish that stops us competing.” He is particularly dirty on the federal government for rejecting Queensland Nickel’s application for carbon-tax compensation while approving payouts to foreign-owned companies such as Glencore and BHP Billiton. Touting himself as the biggest private employer in Queensland, Palmer has loud opinions on everything from people smuggling to soccer. He recently accused Greenpeace of being funded by the CIA (with the aim of destroying the Australian coal sector) and has announced plans to stand against Bob Katter in the federal seat of Kennedy at the next federal election.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

GLOBAL VIEW

GLOBAL

UNITY

The existence of international relations between workers and their unions is nothing new. But now, with economic globalisation and transnational corporations shaping modern working life, they are more important than ever. Andrew Casey looks at IndustriALL – a new global union set to Þght for universal rights for workers.

he newly formed IndustriALL Global Union brings together 50 million workers from 140 countries, and will be a force for social justice across the world. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes spoke at the inaugural conference of the union, and highlighted issues facing workers in the Asia-Pacific region. Paul was also elected to the new global union’s Executive, representing unions in the Asia-Pacific region. Through its new regional office in Sydney, IndustriALL will act to provide

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

support for the unions in Fiji in their struggle to end the country’s military dictatorship. Paul said IndustriALL had been formed at a crucial moment, as businesses were increasingly operating at a global level. “In the era of globalisation, national borders are almost meaningless for the forces of global capital,” Paul said. “For multinational companies, national borders only exist as a means for playing one group of workers off against another group of workers in another country.

“We have to be more sophisticated in how we respond to these tactics, and that means working together as a united union movement.” We all have to deal with the global flow of money and information, and the massive power of global markets.” Paul said employers were also becoming more militant in the wake of the global financial crisis. “As profits get squeezed, global capital is pushing the pain down to the workers. Basic workers’ rights are under attack everywhere.

THE NEW DIRECTOR

IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary, Jyrki Raina.

“Our members are not responsible for the global Þnancial crisis, but they are being forced to pay for it.”

“Our members are not responsible for the global financial crisis, but they are being forced to pay for it.” The IndustriALL Global ge Union was set up to challenge the power of multinational companies and negotiates with them on a global level. Founded on June 19, 2012, the new organisation brings together affiliates of the former global union federations: International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and International Textiles Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). IndustriALL Global Union represents workers in a wide range of sectors from extraction of oil and gas, mining, generation and distribution of electric power, to manufacturing of metals and metal products, shipbuilding, automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, electronics, chemicals, rubber, pulp and paper, building materials, textiles, garments, leather and footwear and environmental services. The first General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, Jyrki Raina, looks to the AWU as a model for putting new ideas and protecting the rights of workers, onto the global political agenda. Soon after the creation of IndustriALL,

Jyrki told the Foreign Press Association in London, “We can use the power of our collective membership to fight for a new model of globalisation, and a new economic and social model that puts people first, based on democracy and social justice. “We in the union movement have lived with the challenge of adapting to a globalised world for decades. We live in a time where the orthodoxies and expectations we have lived with in the post-war period are now uncertain,” he said. Jyrki said that we are living in a time where governments are losing power to financial markets and multinational corporations, while still being expected to provide infrastructure and a social safety net for their citizens. “The problems that face us are increasingly global,” Jyrki said. “The solutions, the alternatives must also be global. Capital and business is global, and so the challenge for trade unions is to make sure labour is global as well. “The similarity of the challenges faced by workers in a globalised world, and the ability

IndustriAll Global Union has made the Asia-Pacific region a particular focus of its continuing activity. Recognising it as a fast-growing region it has appointed an executive director, Rob Johnston, to work out of the national office of the AWU to direct its activity for the region, with two other regional offices, one in india and the other in Singapore. Rob has been close to the AWU over the years, working on several issues of importance to our members, and particularly on the steel industry and in campaigns targeting major resource giants employing AWU people, such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. “We want to focus the region’s work on campaigning together to protect workers’ rights and lift standards for all members of the IndustriALL Global Union,” Rob explained, as he moved his family from Europe to Australia to set up office in late August. “Rio Tinto is a priority because of its importance in the Asia-Pacific region. It has been the subject of allegations and reports about human and labor rights abuses, and about environmental devastation around the world, including in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, China and elsewhere,” Rob said in discussing what will be the first task once he sets up office in Australia. Rob worked for years at the International Metalworkers Federation, the precursor to IndustriALL Global Union, where he met and worked with many Australian union leaders on campaigns which brought unions from across the globe together over issues of common concern.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

GLOBAL VIEW

STAND UP FOR FIJI The founding congress of IndustriALL Global Union put the spotlight onto the military regime which currently controls Fiji and indicated strong support for the Fijian union movement which is leading the fight for the re-establishment of democracy in that Pacific island nation, as well as protecting the rights of Fijian workers and their families. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes took the the stage to tell the several hundred delegates that although Fiji was far away from Europe and a small speck of an island in the middle of the Pacific, unions everywhere should be concerned at the harassment and intimidation of workers and their representatives in the Fijian trade union movement. “There is still much to be done to ensure the voice of independent civil society is again heard freely, loudly and clearly in this proud Pacific island nation,” Paul told delegates. The IndustriALL Global Union passed a unanimous resolution censoring the military regime for its attacks on workers’ rights and the democratic rights of all Fijians. “The Fijian union movement is one of the last organised, strong and independent institutions prepared to confront the violent excesses of a regime which, in a very religious nation, has even banned church meetings because they are afraid of the consequences of citizens meeting to decide their own futures. “The Fijian union movement is also one of the strongest voices against racism and discrimination – especially racism against the large Indo-Fijian Pacific island population.” Paul said, “It is because of the strength and importance of Fijian unions that several leaders, such as the Fiji TUC President, Daniel Urai, and the Fiji TUC Secretary, Felix Anthony, have been regularly targeted, arrested, beaten up in police cells, their families threatened, and treason charges leveled against them.”

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

AWU National Secretary Paul Howes addresses the IndustriALL conference.

we have to communicate makes the creation of a global union necessary if e we are to fulfil our role of protecting the ust rights of workers and building a more just ts society “ Jyrki said, speaking to journalists from Europe, Asia and the Americas. Jyrki believes that the creation of this new united global union launches a new era of global worker activism. In the past, international union bodies served a diplomatic role at the ILO, a solidarity role in the public realm, and a networking role building capacity across unions from north to south, east to west. “This new global union is committed to industrial and organising outcomes – campaigning across supply chains with international companies in pursuit of international agreements,” Jyrki said. “While organised labour is facing big challenges across the world, we are also waking up to the possibilities that globalism offers.” Capital is global – but so is information. Jyrki said that the world is increasingly connected and networked, and it was timely to be part of shining a light on labour practices by companies happy to report on corporate social responsibility in one country, while denying basic rights in another. “We will need to use the full potential of our affiliates. Every day, a member somewhere in the world faces discrimination, oppression, the threat of unemployment or even the threat of violence – for standing up to fight for a living wage, a decent job, decent rights – and the right to organise.”

“Every day a member somewhere in the world faces discrimination.”

A BOLD PLAN IndustriALL will fight for another model of globalisation and a new economic and social model that puts people first, based on democracy and social justice. Under its Action Plan, IndustriALL will strive to: • Build stronger unions • Organise and increase union membership • Fight for trade union rights • Fight against precarious work (including contract and agency labour) • Build union power to confront global capital • Promote industrial policy and sustainability • Promote social justice and globalisation • Ensure equal rights and women’s participation • Create safe workplaces • Improve democracy and inclusiveness For more information about IndustriALL go to www.industriall-union.org

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WORK ISSUES

: G N I N R A WCASUAL RELATIONSHIPS K R O W S Y A W L A ’T N O D

Casual employment can be a!ractive to many women, as ßexible hours can often work well with family obligations. But there is a downside. Melissa Sweet looks at the insecurity of casual employment and its impact on Australian women.

t 26 years old, Magdalena Wozniak recently moved back home to live with her parents in south-western Sydney. It’s not by choice, but the only way she can manage financially, after being done over by the world of casual work. “It’s sad and depressing,” she says, “but I had to survive somehow. I had bills coming out of my bum!” Wozniak’s experiences as a casual worker typify the insecurity and financial stresses that face a growing number of Australians (see breakout box, right). Forty per cent of workers are now in non-permanent forms of employment. And women often bear the brunt of this increasingly insecure employment market, according to a recent inquiry into insecure work, commissioned by the ACTU. This comes as no surprise to Magdalena, an AWU member, who cites her experience of working on a mushroom farm at Leppington, south-west of Sydney. When she began the job on a casual contract, she was promised 30 to 40 hours of work a week. But, for the next two years her hours were unpredictable, ranging from 10 to 30 hours a week – but usually spread over seven days. “You were working seven hours a week, but only a few hours a day,” she says. “You couldn’t go anywhere, you had no social

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

Magdalena Wozniak with Bill Shorten, Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and former AWU National Secretary.

life. You get depressed because you can’t socialise, and you don’t have the money.” Magdalena eventually had enough, and found other work, as a receptionist at Liverpool. But again, she was a casual and her hours varied, dropping down to 15 hours a week, forcing her to move back home. She dreams of finding full-time work with entitlements such as holiday and sick pay, but is not optimistic, saying

WHY IS IT A GENDER ISSUE? About 40 per cent of workers are in insecure work, whether as casuals, contractors or working through labour-hire agencies. Most don’t enjoy the same rights as permanent workers, earn less, have no access to paid sick or holiday leave and can lose their jobs at short notice. Women are more likely to be in casual work (with 28 per cent of all female employees working in casual employment, against 20 per cent of male employees), and are also less likely than men to have access to paid leave entitlements. The lack of ﬂexible working arrangements and social support for working parents forces many women into insecure work, especially those with caring responsibilities. In addition, the industries that employ mainly casual and insecure workers are heavily female-dominated. Insecure jobs typically have unpredictable and ﬂuctuating pay; inferior rights and entitlements; limited or no access to paid leave; irregular and unpredictable working hours; a lack of security and/ or uncertainty over the length of the job; and a lack of any say at work over wages, conditions and work organisation. Even 16 per cent of teachers are now on short-term contracts with no job security. Source: ACTU

it is very difficult to find such jobs. “A lot of the positions out there are casual,” she says. It’s a familiar story for the former Hawke Government minister Brian Howe, who chaired the recent inquiry into insecure work, which received submissions from more than 450 workers and held public hearings at 22 towns and cities around the country. The inquiry’s report, Lives on Hold:

Unlocking the Potential of Australia’s Workforce, documents the toll that insecure work takes on individuals and family finances, health and well-being. r-old One submission came from 40-year-old Kathy, who had 40 jobs in the previous year, hire mostly through recruitment and labour-hire companies. She described how insecure work had left her anxious, depressed and feeling powerless. “It’s really soul-destroying,” she told the inquiry. Brian Howe, a Professorial Associate at the Centre for Public Policy at Melbourne University, says the growth of insecure jobs has happened under the radar, without much public discussion or awareness. He says it is affecting many workplaces, from education to the not-for-profit sector, and service and manufacturing industries. The inquiry team described meeting “countless casual workers in low-paying industries like security, contract cleaning, call-centres, child care, the horticultural industry and food processing”. The inquiry reported: “In each of these

“It’s sad and depressing, but I had to survive somehow. I had bills coming out of my bum!” industries we heard variations of the same story – workers facing unstable and variable incomes and working hours, pay so low that many of them have to hold down two or three jobs to make ends meet, little or no access to paid leave, little or no voice at work about wages, conditions or work organisation, and uncertainty over how long they’ll continue to have work. “Workplaces have emerged in manufacturing, warehousing and logistics where the vast majority of workers are employed through labour-hire agencies – an environment where employees are afraid to raise issues about their pay, conditions or occupational health and safety for fear of not being given any more shifts.” The inquiry learnt of one manufacturing

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WORK ISSUES

WHEN WORK IS A HEALTH HAZARD? While the links between unemployment and poor health are well known, far more attention should be paid to the health risks of poor-quality work. So says Associate Professor Lyndall Strazdins, a Senior Fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University in Canberra. “Not all employment is good for health,” Dr Strazdins told The Australian Worker. “At one end of the continuum are quality jobs that offer good pay and conditions, security, adequate control at work and not excessive workloads. “At the other end are low-paid workers with very little control over their hours or how they work.” Dr Strazdins says poor quality jobs may not only affect employees’ health but also have implications for the wellbeing of families and children. Her research has found that children are more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems when their parents are in poor-quality jobs, because these jobs compromise parents’ mental health and can make it harder for families to manage routines. “Family-friendly workplaces doesn’t just mean giving maternity leave or allowing flexibility,” she says. “It also means providing good-quality jobs.” Her research findings are underscored by the Howe inquiry, which heard from a number of workers who suffered serious health impacts after extended periods in insecure work. The inquiry reported that its work reaffirmed the findings of both the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Health Organization that insecure work is bad for workers’ safety and health. “As a result, the continued growth of insecure work will, over time, contribute to a widening of health inequalities,” the inquiry found.

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plant in western Sydney where the entire staff was employed as casuals through a labour-hire firm. Employees were expected to be available for a full working week, and were notified by text around 4pm each day of whether and when they were required to turn up the next day – but without any information about how long their shift would be. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said that insecure work was becoming an increasing problem in many industries covered by the Union. “Insecure work is about treating people as disposable commodities, rather than investing in people as assets for the future,” he says. “Businesses like to pretend that insecure work is attractive because it gives people flexibility, but in truth it takes away people’s ability to plan and settle down.” Paul believes that it is increasingly difficult to get a home loan, harder to take a holiday and harder to plan a social life. “Our members are saying they would gladly trade the so-called flexibility of insecure work for more stable, secure jobs,” he says. The perils of insecure work are on the agenda of the ACTU, which has launched a campaign called, “Secure Jobs. Better Future”. ACTU president Ged Kearney says insecure work is contributing to gender inequality and widening the gap between men

“A hidden driver of the pay gap is the lack of options for women to balance work and family commitments.” and women’s incomes. She says, “Importantly, a hidden driver of the pay gap is the lack of options for women to balance their work and family commitments – forcing them into low-paid, low-skilled and often insecure work.” Ged hopes this year’s major win by unions for equal pay in the community and social services sector will help address the problem, and says the paid parental leave decision last year, to provide government financial support for working parents who meet the eligibility criteria, is another major step forward. “We applaud all these things, but if we want to address the gender pay gap then we have to ensure women in insecure work have the entitlements and rights afforded to those in permanent work,” she says. Support the job security of Australian workers by showing your support for the campaign at: www.securejobs.org.au

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ON THE

CAMPAIGN TRAIL BASS STRAIGHT

PORT LETTA TTA

DEVONPORT

LAUNCESTON

SAVAGE SA AVAGE RIVER

ROSEBERY

AWU Branches are the major point of contact for

TASMANIA

members. But the Union’s national oﬃce plays an important role in running high-proÞle campaigns and se"ing the Union’s overall agenda. Stewart Prins went

HOBART

“on the road” with AWU National Secretary Paul Howes to experience the Union at work on the federal level.

Photography: George Fetting/Scott Hawkins/Getty Images

t seems like a particularly desperate spot to stop for a smoko. Standing in the cold, drizzly rain, surrounded by thick bush, we shudder by the side of the road, with another half-hour’s driving still to go before reaching the Savage River mine in the north-west of Tasmania. “A few years ago this was a thriving li!le town called Luina,” AWU Tasmanian Secretary Ian WakeÞeld says. A town? Here? On closer inspection, we can see it was true. We see remains of old roads, glimpses of gu!ers and even humps that were once Þre hydrants. But you have to look carefully. The former copper and tin mining

community, which was Þrst se!led in the 1890s, is now a ghost town. Thoroughly remediated and returned to nature, Luina is slowly being swallowed by the surrounding forest. Ironically, Luina is now part of large area of north-west Tasmania that conservationists want to have placed on the World Heritage List, or protected in a new national park. The future of the Tarkine region is a hot issue for Tasmanian mining workers, who fear their jobs are at risk due to intense political lobbying by environmental activists. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes visited miners at Savage River and nearby Rosebery during June to talk to

local workers about their jobs, and the need for a national campaign to tell their side of the story.

MAKING THINGS In the crowded meeting room, Paul told members that it was time to draw a line in the sand. ”Tasmania’s future is in making things,” he said. “In digging stuﬀ up, in adding value to it through manufacturing processes, in exploiting, in a sustainable way, the state’s natural resources.” The Savage River mine has been doing just that for over 40 years. Located 113km south-west of Burnie, Savage River produces the iron oxide magnetite, which is turned into

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“Tasmania’s future is in making things. In digging stuff up, in adding value to it through manufacturing.” a toothpaste-like slurry and pumped through a 83km pipeline to Port La!a on the Bass Strait coast. It takes the slurry 14 hours to get from one end of the pipe to the other. At Port La!a, a pelletising plant transforms the slurry into pellets of iron ore, which are then shipped to Port Kembla and to export markets. Together, the mine and the pelletising plant employ 581 people and support many more jobs in the local community, injecting up to $53 million a year into the Tasmanian economy. Plans are in place to keep the mine operational until 2023, but this will depend on the construction of a new tailings dam. Down the road at Rosebery, it’s a similar story. The Rosebery mine is one of the AWU’s oldest continuing sites. Mines here have been operating since the 1890s. Between 450 and 500 people are employed at the Rosebery site, and its current focus is on zinc, copper and lead. Zinc is taken by rail to Burnie, and then shipped around Tasmania to the zinc smelter at Hobart for processing. The

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Clockwise: The pit ﬂoor at Grange Resources, Savage River; AWU National Secretary Paul Howes with Savage River workers; getting the low-down at the MMG Mine; Paul Howes meeting the troops at Rosebery; signing in at Rosebery; Paul Howes and AWU Tasmanian Branch Secretary Ian Wakeﬁeld at former mining town Luina.

mine has a projected lifespan of at least another 15-plus years, but it also needs to construct a new tailings dam. Savage River is within the area that has been earmarked for listing on the Heritage List, while Rosebery runs along its southern edge. A blanket listing of the whole area will see both mines close in just a few years, and would see other planned mining projects scrapped.

“I’D SELL UP AND I’D GO” For workers at Savage River, the prospect of a future without mining is daunting. Justin Grave says he will be forced, reluctantly, to look at ßy-in ßy-out

employment in Western Australia or Queensland. “If mining down here stopped, the only option would be going to the mainland,” Justin says. “With the state of the [north-west] coast, and what jobs are available, it would be a plane trip out of here. I’d sell up and I’d go.” Michael Cumming says mining is in his blood, and the closure of Savage River is not something he wants to contemplate. “My father was in the mining industry, my grandfather was in the mining industry, and we’ve been in the mining industry all our lives.” Frances Deed moved to north-west

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Tasmania for the lifestyle, and after four years she has no intention of going back to city life. “I’ve lived all my life in Sydney, and I wouldn’t go back there for a squillion dollars,” Frances says. Working in the mining industry has opened Frances’ eyes to the contribution that mining makes to local community, and to the high standards that are set for environmental management. But she says she is frustrated by the ignorance that she encounters back in Sydney. “I’ve had so many arguments with family and friends in Sydney,” Frances says. “They say, ‘you’re destroying Tasmania by chopping down every tree in the state,’ and things like that. “I tell them to jump on a plane and come down here for a holiday and have a look around before you start pu!ing us down. I’m only a blow-in down here, but I can see what is actually happening.”

PERCEPTIONS AND REALITY It’s no wonder that Frances gets frustrated when she goes back to the big smoke. The web site of activist group GetUp! says: “The beautiful and unique Tarkine rainforest is the second largest intact stretch of rainforest in the world, yet mining companies want to destroy it.” AWU Rosebery Branch President Paul Harding rejects the claims of GetUp! and says the mining industry has cleaned up its act. “The perception is ill-conceived and promoted by people with their own agenda,” he says. “The perception out there in the public arena just isn’t true.” A born and bred local, Paul Harding feels that his community is under siege. “It’s a broad a!ack on an industry that provides a lot of royalties to the state government, and has done for a long time,” Paul says. “So, if we see a shu!ing down of this Tarkine area, the potential loss to the state is massive – not only the royalty factors; you’ve also got the future prospects of generations to come.” Paul Howes believes that if the future of mining in north-west Tasmania can be secured, the future for the region is bright, but workers and the mining companies will need to work together. Paul says, “Green groups have cleverly used a campaign to protect

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“We’re at our strongest when we mobilise our membership and Þght as one. It’s vital that all members get involved.”

Whether it’s advocating on behalf of reﬁnery workers at Kurnell in New South Wales, or mine workers at Savage River and Rosebery in Tasmania – or anywhere else for that matter – the AWU’s National Ofﬁce is never far from the media action.

areas of rainforest as cover for their real objective of shu!ing down the Tasmanian mining and forestry industries.” “We need to get on the front foot and explain that the area being put forward for National Heritage listing is not just a patch of rainforest, it’s actually a huge slab of land that takes in old mining sites, regenerated forestry land and fourwheel-drive tracks.” There a number of signiÞcant investment projects worth billions of dollars on the drawing board,

including a major tin and tungsten mine at Mount Lindsay. “The global prices for minerals like tin have improved markedly, and Tasmania is extremely well-placed to take advantage of this,” Paul says. “Mining and conservation have co-existed in this part of the world for over 120 years. It’s vital that mineral processing and exploration activities are allowed to continue in north-west Tasmania, so that the state can share in the beneÞts of the resources boom.”

To send a message to the CEO of Woolworths, go to www.tellwoolworths.org

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“We want to make Woolworths take its responsibility to Australian jobs seriously.” FILLING UP ON AUSSIE FUEL Back in Sydney the following morning, another challenge to the future of AWU members is brewing, with fears that Caltex will close down its Kurnell petrol reÞnery. Paul Howes heads out to Kurnell to discuss another campaign with workers – this time aimed at giant supermarket chain Woolworths. “Caltex is the fuel supplier for Woolworths’ frequent shopper loyalty scheme, but Woolworths does not require Caltex to reÞne its fuel locally,” Paul explains. “If Woolworths inserted that one simple requirement into its agreement with Caltex, then it would go a long way to saving the jobs of workers at the Kurnell reÞnery. “Woolworths likes to play the nationalist card by promoting its use of Australian suppliers, but when it comes to fuel, the company is failing to live up to its own marketing rhetoric. We want to make Woolworths take its responsibility to Australian jobs seriously.” AWU Caltex members decided it was time to stand up and be counted, and overwhelmingly voted to start a campaign to “Tell Woolworths to Þll up on Aussie fuel”.

AUSSIE FUEL, AUSSIE JOBS The campaign is launched in Sydney a few weeks later, with 200 workers coming into the city for a campaign launch event at Trades Hall. Workers are decked out in green t-shirts, emblazoned with the message “Save Caltex jobs, tell Woolworths to Þll up on Aussie fuel”. Speaking at the event, AWU Kurnell Senior Site Delegate Graeme Grace tells The Australian Worker that Caltex is reviewing its Australian operations.

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AWU National Secretary Paul Howes told the assembled workers that while Woolworths likes to play the nationalist card by promoting its use of Australian suppliers, when it comes to fuel the company fails to live up to its own marketing rhetoric.

“Caltex is Australia’s largest petrol company. Part of its review is the real possibility that it’s going to shut down the Kurnell reÞnery” he says. “That’s 700 direct employees who would get the sack,” he says. For the workers who take time out to a!end the campaign launch, it is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the situation, and to put a spotlight on the plight of Australian manufacturing. Kurnell worker Greg Daly says,

“It’s to try and stop manufacturing jobs from going overseas.” “The biggest city in this country will not have its own fuel supply, which is a disgrace,” he says. “The price of fuel is likely to rocket through the roof because there won’t be any competition.” Caltex worker Greg Williams highlights the role of the Kurnell reÞnery in supporting local jobs and local businesses in the Sutherland Shire region. “I think today is important because as a community we should

support Australian manufacturing and industry,” he says. It is a sentiment echoed by fellow Caltex worker Chris Gibson: “I think the most important thing is jobs – saving jobs for the people out there. If you lose that, what have you got left?” After a rousing talk from Paul, Graeme and Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison, the group marches up from Trades Hall to George Street, and then along George Street until they reach the landmark Woolworths store opposite Sydney Town Hall. A chant of “Aussie fuel, Aussie jobs” rings out, reverberating oﬀ high-rise buildings, and bringing oﬃce workers to their windows to see what is going on. With a megaphone in hand, and with TV cameras looking on, Paul and Russ urge Woolworths to become Australia’s “fresh fuel people”, while members distribute ßyers to passers-by. “We’re outside Woolworths,” Russ thunders into his megaphone. “To make it clear that if Woolworths is going to call itself ‘a decent corporate citizen, good community citizen’, then it should look at its relationship with Caltex.” Russ says Caltex is simply about making enormous proÞts. “As far as Caltex is concerned, proÞt is the ultimate goal,” he says. “These people have to be told that they have an obligation to maintain the reÞning

AWU National Secretary Paul Howes faces the media at Kurnell.

operations at Kurnell. And Woolworths has to tell Caltex, its partner in business, that unless it maintains that operation, then the business relationship should be severed immediately.”

MOBILISING THE MEMBERSHIP Whether it’s advocating on behalf of reÞnery workers at Kurnell, or mine workers at Savage River and Rosebery, the National Oﬃce is never far from the media action. Paul Howes says that the Þght has only just begun and encourages AWU members to go to the campaign’s web site (www.tellwoolworths.org), where they can send an email directly to the

chief executive of Woolworths. By sharing this website with friends and family, workers can turn the campaign into a community eﬀort. “I’m a bit of media tart, because the media is critical to ge#ing our message across to the broader public. And the media can shine a light on issues facing AWU members,” Paul Howes says. “But to win this Þght, we need to go further than just doing media stunts. “We’re are at our strongest when we mobilise our membership and Þght as one,” he says. “It might not be your Þght today, but it could be your Þght tomorrow. So it’s vital that all members get involved in these campaigns.”

STOP PRESS Caltex has announced that it will close the Kurnell reﬁnery, and convert it to an import terminal, by mid 2014. The AWU slammed the announcement, calling it a black day for Australia’s manufacturing industry. “Our domestic petrol reﬁning capacity will be diminished by this decision, which means we will be more reliant on imported fuel from Singapore,” AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said. “This is not in Australia’s national interest, and it’s frightening for motorists who are already suffering from the high price of fuel.” Paul said workers were devastated by the announcement, but would

continue to fight for their jobs. In another development, Woolworths washed its hands of the Caltex decision – despite admitting that it took 30 per cent of Kurnell’s total output for its network of 600-plus Caltex/ Woolworths service stations. Woolworths even threatened legal action against the Union for “mocking” its claims to being “Australian through and through”. Paul Howes confirmed that the Australian Workers’ Union would not give up the campaign to save Kurnell. Show your support for Caltex workers and tell Woolworths to fill up on Aussie fuel at www.tellwoolworths.org

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FRONTLINE NEWS ► NATIONAL

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver.

NAT IONAL

NEW ACTU LEADER In May, the AWU welcomed Dave Oliver to the position of ACTU Secretary when it became vacant formally at Congress. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said Dave had forged a strong track record in the labour movement over the last two decades and, more recently, as National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU). “As we face new challenges in the economy and industrial relations, Dave Oliver is the right man to lead the ﬁght,” Paul said “The high Australian dollar isn’t just crippling manufacturing – it’s crippling hospitality, tourism, agriculture and ﬁnancial services, too. “We need a strong leader to protect workers’ rights across those industries and right across the country, and the AWU has no doubt Dave is the right man for the job.” Paul also paid tribute to outgoing ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence, thanking him in particular for his willingness to work alongside the AWU to secure better outcomes for members in manufacturing. “Jeff is one of the most decent and honourable human beings you will meet in the labour movement,” Paul said. “Importantly, Jeff – more than any other person – can claim credit for the fact that the union movement in this country is more united than it has ever been.”

Australia’s natural gas is largely exported.

NAT IONAL

STEPPING ON THE GAS AWU National Secretary Paul Howes launched the Union’s updated Aluminium Industry Plan in Perth, and said a National Gas Reservation Policy would be critical to securing the aluminium industry’s future energy requirements. “The aluminium industry is highly energy intensive. For example, energy costs represent

around 20 to 30 per cent of the total running costs of aluminium smelters,” Paul said. “That’s why access to competitively priced energy is so crucial to the future of the industry in this country. “At the moment, however, natural gas is overwhelmingly being shipped overseas for the narrow beneﬁt of a small number of multinational companies.

“It’s time the federal government put a National Gas Reservation Policy in place to ensure that all new gas production projects reserve a proportion of their output for the domestic market.” Paul said Australia had the highest domestic gas price of any country that exports natural gas. “It has been estimated that as much as 80 per cent of Australia’s projected gas supply has already been secured by LNG exporters,” he said.

NAT IONAL

SKILLED DEFENCE JOBS MUST BE RETAINED The federal government’s decision to retire the RAAF’s ﬂeet of C-130H Hercules aircraft early, as part of Budget defence cuts, has put the long-term future of 250 workers at the RAAF Richmond base at risk. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said the Union was concerned for the future of the highly trained employees and contractors of Qantas Defence Services who maintain the C-130H Hercules aircraft.

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“The Union has spoken to the federal government and Qantas to ﬁnd out what the government’s budget announcement means for the aircraft-maintenance workforce at Richmond,” Paul said. “We have been assured that no immediate jobs will be lost. We will now work closely with the Department of Defence and Qantas Defence Services to ensure minimum disruption to workers at the Richmond base as the aircraft are phased out of operation.”

Paul said Australia’s skilled workforce was essential to its national defence capabilities. “The Department of Defence must ﬁnd alternative aircraft maintenance work for the Richmond base so that Australia does not lose access to the highly trained workforce that has been developed at Richmond over many years. “The AWU will not stand by and see the jobs sacriﬁced, and these capabilities lost,” he said.

FRONTLINE NEWS ► NATIONAL/QUEENSLAND

NAT IONAL

MAY INTENSIVE A SUCCESS The annual May Intensive again delivered great results for the AWU, with over 2000 new members signing up, new workplace delegates being identiﬁed, and hundreds of public sector members switching to Direct Debit. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said these results were achieved against a tough backdrop of job losses in major employers, and a struggling manufacturing sector. “Organisers and delegates went to extraordinary efforts to spread the word about union membership,” Paul said. “Countless meetings and conversations were held with workers to explain the beneﬁts of joining the AWU, and raise awareness of workplace issues.” Paul said there were some outstanding success stories from the May Intensive in each Branch. “These stories also highlighted one of the great strengths of our organisation – the diversity and breadth of our membership,” he said. “The good work of this year’s Intensive will provide us with a strong platform to continue organising from over the rest of the year.”

NAT IONAL

Photography: Getty/Newspix

GLOBAL SOLIDARITY A CRUCIAL WEAPON AGAINST RIO TINTO In March, representatives of workers from Rio Tinto Alcan’s plant in Alma, Quebec, Canada, met with Australian steel workers as part of a global solidarity campaign against the multinational. United Steel Workers official Guy Farrell and USW Local 9490 President Marc Maltais, who works at Rio’s Alma smelter, were invited to Australia by the AWU, the Maritime Union of Australia and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union after the company locked out its entire Alma workforce on New Year’s Day. A day before the legal right to commence lockout proceedings kicked in, Rio Tinto declared a hidden lock out at its Alma plant. The company employed 150 security guards to throw its 780 workers on to the street the following day. The workers at Alma were not demanding increases in their wages or benefits from the highly profitable smelter, but trying simply to negotiate a limit to the use of subcontracting – a practice that undermines wages and unionism. AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said Rio Tinto practiced the same appalling anti-union tactics across the world and that international labour solidarity was a key part of the arsenal to fight it. “It is important for unions representing Rio Tinto workers to form a united global front against the company’s continued union-busting campaign.” “Being on strike for two months in sub-zero temperatures is a stressful experience for these workers,” Marc Maltais said. “Knowing that they are not alone will give them the strength to go one day longer,” he said.

NAT IONAL

STEELWORKERS MEET IN BID TO SAVE THEIR INDUSTRY

said the crisis facing the steel industry in Australia had worsened in recent months, and more needed to be done to save this In April, the AWU held an emergency strategically vital sector. meeting in Melbourne of steelworkers “Australian steel manufacturers are on from across the country to address the the brink of collapse,” Paul said .”We have worsening crisis facing the steel industry. already seen over 1000 jobs go from Over 80 steelworkers from all major BlueScope’s Port Kembla and Western Port steel plants met with representatives of plants, and Onesteel has conﬁrmed it will federal and state governments, as well as shed up to 430 jobs by the end of this heads of industry, to discuss and plan ﬁnancial year. With numbers like these, strategies to save the struggling Australian there is no doubt the Australian dollar has steel industry. continued to wreak havoc on our local AWU National Secretary Paul Howes steel manufacturers, and we fear The crisis facing Australia’s steel industry has it’s going to get worse before it worsened in recent months. gets better.” Minister for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet and Victorian Labor leader Daniel Andrews addressed the steelworkers, followed by presentations from Onesteel and BlueScope outlining the current market. The delegates also heard from representatives of New Zealand steel unions about market conditions across the Tasman. “Our Union is committed to working with government and industry to put together a new strategy for steel aimed at ensuring the sector can cater and share in the huge pipeline of work in mining, infrastructure and defence,” Paul said. “Steel is an important strategic resource. Without a steel industry, there is no manufacturing industry. “Government, industry and unions must come together and do everything we can to save this strategically vital sector,” he said.

QU EENSLA N D

VALE PAUL McCLINTOCK We advise with great sadness that AWU health delegate Paul McClintock passed away in hospital on June 17, after a short illness. Paul was employed as a wardsperson at a Rockhampton health facility. Local AWU members remember him as a tough campaigner, always ﬁghting for the rights and conditions of fellow workers. With his knowledge of the industry, awards and agreements, Paul worked effectively with other AWU delegates to address industrial problems, and was timely in keeping the Union ofﬁce up-to-date about the issues of the moment.

Delegates in QHealth would remember Paul from AWU training and information sessions for state delegates conducted in Brisbane. Paul played an integral part in the 2008 QHealth campaign and was featured in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin outlining the case for protecting wages and job security for AWU members, while upholding the standard of care for patients. He was a gentleman of strong scruples with an inspiring and positive outlook on life and was held in high esteem by all his workmates. He will be sadly missed. www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

FRONTLINE NEWS ► QUEENSLAND/GREATER NEW SOUTH WALES

QU EENSLA N D

RESEARCH PROJECT TO IMPROVE ROADWORKERS’ SAFETY Safety is an important concern for all workers, but particularly when you are trying to work on the road with cars and trucks thundering by. Yet without these workers, we would have no new roads, and all those existing would be full of potholes. So, everyday, construction and maintenance companies try to juggle worker safety and safety budgets as part of continuing programs of road improvement. Accurate counts of fatalities and injuries at roadworks are not available in Australia. Based on NSW data, researchers at the Centre for Accident Research and Road SafetyQueensland (CARRS-Q) estimate that at least 50 deaths and 750 injuries occur annually in Australian roadwork zones. Some of those are of workers and some are of members of the public, and in addition to the enormous personal costs for those affected, in economic terms, these incidents are estimated to cost more than $400 million annually. As part of its commitment to improve safety at roadworks, the AWU is partnering with CARRS-Q, Leighton Contractors, engineers GHD and Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) on a three-year program of research, which has received funding from the Australian Research Council. The research is led by Professor Narelle Haworth and Associate Professor Bert Biggs of CARRS-Q.

Earlier study has identiﬁed the need to improve both the technology and equipment used at roadworks to control trafﬁc, and also the need to strengthen the safety culture of organisations involved in roadworks at all levels. Without a strong organisational commitment, effective measures are neither likely to be put in place or maintained. Therefore, this research will take place at roadwork sites and within organisations involved in purchasing and delivering roadworks. Most of the data will be collected at large roadwork sites in

FORESTS NSW JOBS GO

Information will be collected in confidence by the research team, so that workers can be free to answer without concern for their responses being made available to employers. Later phases will involve measuring driver speeds at roadworks and interviewing drivers about what influences their behaviour, and trialling new safety initiatives on sites and in organisations. Completion of the study is expected by early 2015. The benefits are expected to come in new and more effective methods to improve safety in road construction, in better measures for effecting policy and in interventions to produce behavioural change among organisations involved in roadworks and safer, more productive roads.

Speeding traffic is a constant danger to road workers.

GREAT ER NSW

In the wake of move to “corporatise” the NSW government agency, Forests NSW (FNSW) has starting shedding jobs. Just three weeks after announcing that FNSW would be corporatised, the NSW government told workers that 24 positions would go. The cutbacks included the closure of ﬁve mechanical workshops, located at Eden, Batesmans Bay, Toronto,

Queensland involving the project’s industry partners. Information about smaller works commissioned by local government, utility companies or property developers will be collected through discussions with the AWU and other organisations. The ﬁrst phase of the research project is now under way. Researchers are interviewing trafﬁc controllers, construction workers, supervisors, designers, engineers, and planners at a number of different work sites in south-east and regional Queensland. Workers are being asked about their perceptions of roadwork hazards, their views on the effectiveness of current safety measures, and their opinions on potential ways to improve safety.

Wauchope and Grafton, resulting in 11 jobs being terminated, and the restructure of the Brigalow forests, resulting in approximately 50 per cent of jobs being lost. AWU Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison said the cutbacks were irresponsible and dangerous. “The Brigalow Region covers an area of 52,400 square kilometres in central-north NSW, which is 6.2 per cent of the state, and includes Dubbo, Merriwa,

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

Coonabarabran, Narrabri, Moree and Warialda,” he said. “That’s one worker per 3500 square kilometres to maintain and provide ﬁre protection for the local community.” FNSW management had previously assured the AWU and workers that jobs would not be affected, but that corporatisation would allow the agency to renegotiate timber contracts that are below market price. At the time, NSW Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson said corporatisation would result in changes to governance structures and improve

the organisation’s commercial performance. Her press release also stated: “...There are no employment level changes proposed as a result of the organisational change.” Russ said, “The Nationals have stood by and allowed the state government to sack regional workers, stop important fire-control work to protect local residents and shut down workshops that maintain important equipment. “This government has decided to attack workers first, and place regional citizens at risk for sake of increasing profits.”

FRONTLINE NEWS ► GREATER NEW SOUTH WALES

GREAT ER NSW

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION FIGHT Workers’ compensation entitlements for injured workers have been slashed by the NSW state government. Huge changes to WorkCover were passed by NSW Parliament to make the scheme more proﬁtable for the state government and for insurance companies, despite thousands of workers rallying outside Parliament to protest against the reforms. On a cold and rainy Sydney June 13, over 10,000 workers, including over 500 AWU members, gathered to protest outside Parliament House. AWU Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison said,

Workers braved the cold and rain in defence of workers comp.

“Workers at the rally heard that the O’Farrell Government’s changes will rob workers of muchneeded medical help and wages support. Russ said that in a developed country, workers’ compensation is a basic right, and injured workers

GREAT ER NSW

Photography: Getty Images

NATIONAL PARKS – NEW SHOOTING POLICY A DANGER The NSW state government has done a deal with the Shooters and Fishers Party to allow recreational hunting in the state’s national parks. The deal allowed the O’Farrell Government to get sufficient numbers in the NSW upper house to pass its electricity-privatisation bills. AWU Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison said the NSW government had sold off safety of park workers and patrons. “Once again, the O’Farrell Government’s contempt for workers was shown through the introduction of shooting in national parks without consultation with the workforce. Why? Simply to sell off the state’s electricity assets,” Russ said. On June 14, AWU members, conservation groups and patrons of national parks converged on Parliament House for a protest rally against these changes. Garth Toner, AWU member and national parks field officer, addressed the rally about the impact on recreational users of the parks, as well as workers. Wearing a bulletproof vest, Garth said, “may be a standard issue for all park visitors.” As recently as last August, NSW

Environment Minister Robyn Parker told Parliament that recreational shooting was not compatible with national parks. Russ said, “The last we heard was the election promise made by the NSW government not to allow shooting in national parks.” Responding to a question from

must be looked after. He said sick and injured workers would ﬁnd their incomes slashed by hundreds of dollars after only 13 weeks. “Inevitably, injured workers will be forced to return to work too early,” Russ said. “And for the ﬁrst time in 70 years, NSW workers will not be covered for injuries that occur on the way to or from work.” Perhaps the most controversial element of the changes relate to the provisions of legal costs for claimants. “Previously, WorkCover paid for the legal fees of injured workers,” Russ said. “But now, injured workers will have to fund their own claims.” “Workers will now be forced to take out their own personal income insurance, providing a double boon for insurance industry.”

the Opposition, Minister Parker said “The policy of the NSW government is clear: hunting in national parks is not permitted. I say that very slowly for the slow learner on the Opposition backbench.” Less than a year later, the NSW government has done a complete u-turn on this policy. Russ said national parks are passive recreational areas with multiple entry points. These include areas where local residents can gain access via their backyards, or

tourists with little English-language knowledge can easily wander into the wrong space. This has been demonstrated by fatalities around the world. “National park workers will now have the additional task of monitoring and ensuring that amateur recreational shooters are properly supervised and restricted to shooting only feral animals. “Unspent ammunition cartridges will provide additional dangers during the ﬁre season. The number of shooters present will cause safety problems not only for themselves, but for workers and patrons.” “Given that we have no way to stop this, the AWU is best suited to negotiate a workable solution with the government, and not the Shooters Party. We need real solutions, not a political ﬁx. The AWU has members who are professional shooters, plus our national parks members already undertake the eradication of feral animals. “The government must listen to workers, unions and conservation groups to ensure the best solution is provided for park patrons, workers and recreational shooters.” Currently, the eradication of feral animals is undertaken by trained and safety-conscious national parks staff under a strictly controlled program. “This Government has little regard for community safety or concerns, refuses to discuss issues with key stakeholders and is only interested in doing deals to satisfy its own self interest,” he said.

AWU members and NSW Labor leader John Robertson rallied outside NSW Parliament House to protest against recreational shooting in National Parks.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

FRONTLINE NEWS ►NEWCASTLE/PORT KEMBLA

PORT KEM BLA

AWU SECURES A CRUCIAL EBA AT COMPASS GROUP EUREST

NEWCA ST LE

A SAD MESSAGE FROM RICHARD DOWNIE On May 23, Norsk Hydro, owner of the Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter announced that its plant will move toward a total closure. Following reports of the loss of 150 jobs there in the previous issue of The Australian Worker this will see a further 350 permanent jobs and many contractor roles terminated. Businesses supplying the smelter will also be affected. Many of those employed at the smelter have worked there for 20 or more years. The closure is attributed to a continuing high Australian dollar. The company is losing $7 million a month, and there is over 4 million tonnes of aluminium stockpiled around the world undermining prices. Recent news of the federal and Victorian state government’s $42 million support for Alcoa’s Port Henry smelter to keep it operating for at least another two years has not been received well in Newcastle and the “Valley”. Norsk management had never asked for assistance from the federal government, but received no favours from the NSW Government, which seems not to care about helping the smelter, its workers and their futures.

After 40 years of operation, the smelter will ﬁnish operations later this year. A lot of workers are concerned about their futures. The smelter has been a union site since day one, with the best wages and conditions of any aluminium smelter in Australia, and the members are going out with an excellent redundancy. Negotiations between the AWU and Norsk Hydro have seen effort put in by all to secure “real” jobs for the redundant workers. The senior delegates and shift delegates, led by site delegate Paul O’Brien, have worked tirelessly, and without the Union on site, the outcome would have been considerably different, for the worse. “What I see in our future is uncertainty for our jobs within BlueScope Steel, because without a current contract between Eurest and BlueScope we are all in a vulnerable position,” Newcastle Branch Secretary Richard Downie said. “In the 20 years I have worked with Eurest in BlueScope, I have never felt this level of uncertainty over the future. The AWU will do everything in its power to lessen the impact of any redundancies and ensure members are treated with dignity.”

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

In January 2011, negotiations commenced on a new enterprise agreement for 47 members employed by Eurest to supply food services at BlueScope Steel’s Port Kembla site. The nominal expiry date was March 30, 2011, and a series of bargaining meetings that took place from January 6 through to May 3 failed to reach agreement. Negotiations stalled because Eurest was in negotiation with BlueScope Steel over its new foodservices contract, and was unwilling to enter into a new EA without securing a continuing contract. Further meetings in August and September 2011 failed to reach agreement on wage increases, with contract negotiations continuing.

On September 23, 2011, the AWU lodged a protected action ballot, or PAB, and on September 27, Compass Eurest attempted to reach agreement with members directly, offering three-year agreement with 3 per cent increase to base rates each year. AWU members rejected the offer. On October 18, the PAB was approved by Fair Work Australia, and on October 19, Compass Eurest again attempted to reach agreement with members, offering 3.5 per cent wage increase. On October 26, the AWU conducted a mass meeting of members, which unanimously rejected the company’s offer. On November 3, 83 per cent of AWU members participated in a ballot, with 90 per cent indicating their preference to take protected industrial action. The company made

a revised offer of 3.75 per cent, and on November 9, a mass meeting accepted the wage-increase offer on condition that the parties could reach agreement on its wording. On December 22, another mass meeting accepted in-principle agreement on the wage increase and wording of the EA, and proceeded to conduct a ballot on it on January 9 and 10, with 91 per cent participation and 98 per cent approving the agreement. A year-long battle came to its conclusion when Fair Work Australia approved the EA, and it came into operation from February 6. Its major wins included a paid meal break for all employees; improved discretionary extendedleave provisions; improved flexibility and dispute-resolution clauses; agreement on wording to make it Fair Work Australia-compliant; and an increase to wage rates and allowances to reflect 3.75 per cent per annum for three-year agreement. AWU Port Kembla Branch Organiser Boris Baraldi said, “Credit must go to the predominantly female members for the stance they took in achieving this significant win. They still face an uncertain future, as there is no formal contract in place between BlueScope and Compass Eurest to continue to provide food services on site. AWU Member Tamara Morgan, recently elected as site delegate, and who has worked at BlueScope in food services for 20 years, said, “Trying to understand what had to go in our new EA to make it Fair Work-compliant, and what the company was trying to put in there to benefit itself was the hard part, and why we needed the AWU to get the best outcome for our members. “What I see in our future is uncertainty for our jobs within BlueScope Steel, because without a current contract between Eurest and BlueScope we are vulnerable. In the 20 years I’ve worked with Eurest in BlueScope, I have never felt this level of uncertainty over our future. I know the AWU will do what it can to lessen the impact of any redundancies and ensure members are treated with respect and dignity.”

FRONTLINE NEWS ► VICTORIA

LEFT: Jobs at Alcoa’s Point Henry smelter are safe for the moment.

V IC TOR I A

THE BATTLE FOR POINT HENRY The hard work to save Alcoa Point Henry has begun, after a two-year reprieve for the operation as a result of a government assistance package, and a commitment from the company. In February, Alcoa announced a review of Point Henry, leaving no doubt that closure was an option. Australia’s soaring exchange

Photography: Getty

V IC TOR I A

rate, unfavourable metal prices and competition from newer smelters internationally were all blamed for the downturn that saw the smelter’s continued operation jeopardised. The review was met with dismay by workers and businesses throughout the Geelong region. There were 600 direct jobs and another 2000 indirectly in the ﬁring line.

JOBS FLY AWAY

AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem talks to the media.

The decision to close Qantas heavy maintenance facilities at Tullamarine was a heavy blow for Victoria. AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem said the result of the airline’s review highlighted the Victorian government’s lack of vigour in ﬁghting for local jobs. “As soon as the review of the facilities at Melbourne, Brisbane and Avalon was announced, the Queensland government said they would ﬁght to keep Brisbane

open,” Cesar said. “We didn’t see that degree of commitment from the Victorian government.” The airline’s review ran from February to May, and during that time the AWU campaigned to save the Victorian sites, but it was not to be. The result that 420 jobs will go at Tullamarine, and another 113 at Avalon, was devastating. “The fact that the Victorian Government was not slugging it out to develop proposals to keep highly-skilled people at work is shattering.”

It was a relief for workers when the news came that federal and state governments will contribute $40 million to upgrade the plant, and workers’ skills as the site restructures. AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem praised members for the role they played in the effort to save their own jobs. “We have seen extraordinary determination from our members,” Cesar said. “From the outset, they

were actively involved in the lobbying that led to this outcome.” Media followed the first weeks of the review closely, including a key meeting between AWU officials and plant delegates, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard. “To see the prospect of so many jobs disappearing from a regional centre was shattering,” Cesar said. “On top of that was the fact that Point Henry is an important part of the Victorian economy, and a key asset in the aluminium supply chain.” In early May, the AWU went straight to the top when Cesar and senior site delegate Brett Noonan travelled to Pittsburgh in the US to meet with senior Alcoa executives. Talks were intense and, as Cesar said, “were with the right people.” They were able to reinforce the potential of the smelter and the critical role it plays in the state and regional economy, and returned with a sense of cautious optimism. “We presented almost 300 ideas for improving operations, and discussed the need for investment in improved technology at the site,” he said. “We made it clear that the workforce was prepared to find productivity gains, but Alcoa had to make its contribution, too.” The smelter will stay open now until at least mid-2014, but there are no guarantees past that point. “Our Alcoa members’ preparedness to keep on playing a constructive role in their own prospects is all the more important now,” Cesar said.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

FRONTLINE NEWS ►VICTORIA

V IC TOR I A

REGIONAL RAIL UNDERWAY Work has started on Victoria’s $4.3 billion Regional Rail Link, with 1000 jobs expected to be created over the next 12 months. AWU Construction Lead Organiser and National Vice President Sam Wood said it was one of the

biggest projects the country had seen. “It will be a major source of employment in coming times,” Sam said. The Regional Rail Link will separate regional trains from metropolitan trains. For the ﬁrst

time, Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat will have dedicated tracks through the metro system from Sunshine to Southern Cross Station. Work will run from West Werribee, through Deer Park and suburbs including Footscray. It will increase capacity and reliability for services, and will eliminate delays caused by track sharing.

V IC TOR I A

WORK AND A PIECE OF LOCAL HISTORY LOST CMI Industrial sites around Melbourne made headlines when the company went into receivership in April, but it was its Horsham foundry that was to pay the price. The auto component maker’s Horsham site has been in operation for more than 100 years. AWU members there were initially reassured that it would be business as usual for the time being, but that was soon to change. AWU Organiser Ronnie Hayden said it quickly became apparent that the future was in jeopardy because the foundry did not have customers large enough to make guarantees.

“It was different to other parts of the company, with Horsham having a lot of smaller clients,” he said. “Our members remained determined to the end to do their

best to see that the foundry stayed open, and a piece of local history preserved.” In early July, the foundry was closed by receivers and AWU

CMI Industry workers at Horsham had a final get-together on their last day at work.

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

The AWU Victorian Branch is accepting CVs from members who are interested in working on the project. Such expressions of interest should be marked clearly, and sent to Reception, AWU, 685 Spencer Street, West Melbourne, VIC 3003, or emailed to reception@awu.net.au

members lodged General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) forms with Ronnie’s help. “It is sad for people who who kept doing the right thing up to the ﬁnal hour. They certainly earned my respect,” he said.

FRONTLINE NEWS ► VICTORIA

V IC TOR I A

PUBLIC SECTOR PRESSURED Victoria’s public sector workers are feeling the pinch as the state government cuts back on frontline roles and refuses to budge on wage increases. AWU members employed by the Department of Sustainability & Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria (PV) are both seeking new enterprise agreements in the face of a government ceiling of 2.5 per cent on pay increases. This ceiling has been smashed time and again by high-proﬁle groups, but the battle for wage justice continues for Victorian Branch members. Workers at PV have taken industrial action, including not opening gates on key days, after being offered a deal that would see the average wage drop from around $60,000 to $48,000 a year. Public Sector Coordinator Sam Beechey said the pay offer was “indecent”. “The only way this matter is going to be settled is by the independent umpire – Fair Work Australia – which is how resolution came about for nurses, among many others,” Sam said. (At the time of writing, the matter was headed towards FWA arbitration.)

In the case of DSE, industrial action is on the agenda as AWU members there face the same roadblock as those at PV.

“It’s the same story,” Sam said. “We are facing a brick wall and it’s just not good enough.” DSE members are already

V IC TOR I A

Photography: Fairfax Photos

NEW MILDURA ORGANISER SETTLES IN Adam Aldgate took over as Mildura Organiser from Patrick Wood in January this year, and reports no regrets about his career change. Adam is a longstanding AWU member, and was an active delegate at Lindeman’s Karadoc at Red Cliffs when he decided to pursue his career in the labour movement. “I just felt like it was the right thing to do,” he said, “and it has certainly turned out that way.” Adam cites contact with members as one of his favourite parts of the job. He is available on 0400 697 082, and is based in the Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Building at 159 Lime Avenue, Mildura.

New AWU Organiser Adam Aldgate, right, talks to an AWU member.

DS and PV members are suffering under state government cutbacks.

under pressure through cutbacks to numbers, which have seen many workers redeployed across the state to fill in where permanent roles had existed in the past. AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem said the treatment of both DSE and PV workers was a disgrace. “These are the people out there protecting the public estate, saving life and property in times of natural disaster, such as the terrible bushfires we have seen in this state,” Cesar said. “I don’t think you get more ‘frontline’ than these members.” On top of all this, there have been cutbacks to VicRoads inspectors responsible for scrutiny of traffic management around roadside construction. “Roadside traffic management is a very dangerous job. We know from AWU members working in the area, how many near-misses there are as well as recorded injuries and death,” Cesar said. “This government is gambling with people’s lives.”

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

FRONTLINE NEWS ► WESTERN AUSTRALIA

W EST ER N AUST R ALI A

AWU AGREEMENT BOOSTS COPPER MINE SAFETY AND PAY INCREASES The Birla Nifty copper mine is one of Western Australia’s most isolated mining operations, located in the Great Sandy Desert Region of the East Pilbara, approximately 1250 km north of Perth and 350 km east of Port Hedland. The Nifty sulphide operation is one of the largest underground copper mines to be commissioned worldwide this decade. Through innovation and understanding that the mine operations are vulnerable due to global factors affecting the price of copper, the AWU was able to negotiate an agreement that caters for both the business’s operations and provides well-paid and safe working conditions. With the expansion of the mining industry in the Pilbara Region, and with competitive conditions, the AWU was able to negotiate successfully the removal of the traditional two-and-one working roster and replace it with a modified eight days on and six days off that not only attracted and retained staff, but increased productivity and efficiency. “The amazing thing that we saw after the change in rosters was a 27 per cent decrease in safety-related incidents after the agreement was implemented – which was a major win for AWU members on site,” AWU Western Australia Branch Assistant Secretary Paul Asplin said. “This is a perfect example of how, through discussion with AWU members and great AWU delegates on site, we were able to achieve one of the best working rosters in the WA mining community.” In addition to the eight-and-six roster, the AWU also negotiated a pay-increase system linked to the London Metal Exchange copper price, using a sliding scale: the higher the average copper price, the greater the pay increase. Employees can gain an increase up to 6.75 per cent when the copper price has reached over $US100.51 per tonne, with the protection of a minimum safety net if the price is low. In 2010-11, the first year of the pay scheme, employees received an increase of 5.19 per cent. Whilst copper prices have been weaker

this year, employees should receive an increase in excess of 4 per cent. The scheme allows employees to share in the good times and shows restraint when prices are weak, and is a great example of how the innovation and negotiating experience of the AWU can beneﬁt both employer and employees “Our members out there are a great bunch, and it’s through their Proud AWU members at the Fremantle May Day parade.

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

hard work and commitment to that mine and willingness to stand stronger together that we were able to achieve what I think is a great result,” Paul said. AWU Western Australia Branch Secretary Stephen Price said the agreement and relationship with Aditya Birla Minerals had developed well over time, and resulted in the agreements we see today. He also

hoped that other similar mining operations saw the beneﬁt in shorter rosters that attracted and retained staff, while ensuring that safety issues like fatigue were managed out by such systems. Based on further drilling completed during 2009, it is expected that Birla Nifty copper mine operations will be extended beyond 10 years.

W EST ER N AUST R ALI A

AWU AT MAY DAY A few storm clouds couldn’t keep away another impressive turnout from the AWU Western Australian Branch in the annual May Day March and festival through the esplanade and cobble streets of the harbourside City of Fremantle. “It makes me proud to be an AWU Member and the Branch Secretary when you see this many members and their families wearing AWU shirts and celebrating everything that our great union has achieved in such a broad crosssection of industries,” AWU Western Australian Branch Secretary Stephen Price said. May Day also signiﬁed the start of the National May Intensive campaign which saw the AWU sign up over 2000 new members nationally across some 300 work sites by over 100 AWU ofﬁcials. Stephen would like to remind all AWU members to keep Sunday, May 5, 2013, free.

FRONTLINE NEWS ►WESTERN AUSTRALIA

W EST ER N AUST R ALI A

AWU WINS FOR ALCOA SPOTLESS CANTEEN STAFF The AWU Western Australian Branch recently won a large sum of money in back-pay and entitlements for Spotless canteen workers at Alcoa Kwinana Reﬁnery, 22 kilometres south of Perth. For over six months, Spotless

workers were not being paid to attend compulsory training to complete their Mining & Resource Contractors Safety Training Association (MARCSTA) programs. Full-time and part-time time staff were paid, but casual employees were told they would not receive

W EST ER N AUST R ALI A

any money for the hours worked in attending compulsory training. Through the work of the on-site AWU Alcoa Convenor and AWU Western Australian Branch State President Andy Hacking, and AWU Alcoa Organiser Brad Gandy, these workers have now received all

Photography: Getty/Newspix

NATIONAL JOCKEYS’ TRUST COMMITMENT After much lobbying from the AWU and the Australia Jockeys’ Association (AJA), Western Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan announced that if elected, a Labor Government would contribute $500,000 to the National Jockeys’ Trust (NJT), a fund created to support jockeys who were seriously injured or killed at work. The announcement was warmly welcomed by the WA Racing industry and by the AWU Western Australian Branch, Western Australian Jockey’s Association (WAJA) and AJA. AWU Western Australian Branch Secretary Stephen Price

said seriously injured jockeys and bereaved families of jockeys who died on the job were facing undue hardship because the NJT lacked adequate funding. “The Trust needs a $5 million injection to continue supporting jockeys with career-ending injuries, and the families of jockeys who die,” Stephen said. “The AWU has supported the AJA’s calls for each state in Australia to make a donation to the Trust, which was established in 2004 to provide assistance to jockeys who suffer ﬁnancial hardship as a result of injury, illness or death. “In WA, the Barnett Government opted not to support

monies owning for past occasions and future training sessions, after a number of meetings with senior Spotless representatives. Brad said that while addressing the issue through the dispute processes on site, the AWU also saw a large membership increase from those who were also affected by it, not only at the Kwinana Reﬁnery

way, including the replacement of metal racing barriers at regional racecourses in favour of those made of plastic, which are safer for horses and riders, and improvements to workers’ comp and increases in riding fees.

the call for funding, despite the racing industry contributing $600 million annually to the Western Australian economy. “It is a dangerous LEFT TO RIGHT: Labor candidate for Belmont, occupation, with 311 Cassie Rowe; Jockeys’ Association Director jockey deaths recorded and jockey, Craig Staples and Stephen Price. in Australia due to falls, which includes WA jockey Jason Oliver, who died from head injuries from a fall at Belmont Park Racecourse in 2002,” Stephen said. Through the AWU’s partnership with the WAJA, other improvements to the industry are also under

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

FRONTLINE NEWS ► WESTERN AUSTRALIA/TASMANIA

AWU National Secretary Paul Howes at Pacific Aluminium’s Bell Bay Smelter in Tasmania, where jobs were under threat.

TA SM A NI A

Focus is on safety practices within onshore and offshore resources communities.

W EST ER N AUST R ALI A

WORKING TOGETHER FOR SAFE WORKPLACES The AWU Western Australian Branch was pleased be attend the annual Kentz Safety Conference at the Perth Exhibition and Conference Centre last month, to participate in a panel discussion on community and developing safety practices within the onshore and offshore resources communities. The AWU was represented by Offshore Alliance Organiser Matt Dixon, who spoke on how safety practices have developed in the oil and gas sector after disasters at the Chernobyl Reactor meltdown and the Piper Alpha Platform explosion developed a true deﬁnition and an effective understanding of a workplace-safety culture. “A lot of companies miss the point when it comes to implementing an efﬁcient safety culture

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

through policies and procedures,” Matt said. “Members are constantly ﬁlling out forms and tick-a-box sheets to complete jobs, which are seen as formalities rather than a strong safety identity. A culture can only develop within a workforce when it is driven and owned by the workforce.” AWU WA Branch Secretary Stephen Price said he has seen a vast improvement in safety in the resources sector from his time as a hard-rock miner to now leading the AWU in WA. “There has been a big change in the safety culture from when I was working in the mining sector 20 years ago, but there is still a lot more that needs to be done, especially in including workers in developing safety policies and procedures,” Stephen said.

The future of 500 jobs at the Bell Bay aluminium smelter has been secured by a new power deal between Pacific Aluminium (a Rio Tinto subsidiary) and the Tasmanian government. AWU Tasmanian Branch Secretary Ian Wakefield said the power contract came at a crucial time, with the aluminium industry battling the combined effects of the high Australian dollar and increasing global competition. “The Union has been working behind the scenes to help bring Pacific Aluminium and the Tasmanian government energy utilities to a new long-term energy agreement,” Ian said. “The new power deal will underpin the viability of the Pacific Aluminium smelter for the next decade and beyond.” Ian said that with its base load supply of hydro electricity, Tasmania was the right place to be making aluminium, and that, “This is great news for workers at Bell Bay. It will give them confidence in the future of their jobs, and in the future of their industry. “The Bell Bay smelter is a vital piece of economic infrastructure for Tasmania, directly employing 500 people, and injecting millions into the local economy. The smelter is also key customer for Hydro Tasmania, using renewable energy to produce a strong, lightweight and 100-per-cent recyclable material.” Ian said there was much more work to be done to improve the overall prospects of the aluminium sector on a national level, but that Bell Bay was heading in the right direction. “We’re pleased to see Premier Giddings delivering her commitment to jobs by supporting the power deal. It is vital that the state continues to support value-adding industries like aluminium.”

Photography: Getty/Newspix

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MEET THE OFFICIAL

TA SM A N I A N BR A NC H A S SI STA N T SEC RETA RY

ROBERT FLANAGAN

y first job was as a casual filing clerk for the AWU office in Sydney and I’ve been with the AWU pretty much ever since. That’s about 26 years now. I was at the Sydney office for 13 years and worked my way up from clerk to publications then moved on to the underpayment of wages department, which involved breaches of award payments and such. During that time I also studied part time at the University of Wollongong. Working in that department was my first step into advocacy and I loved it. From there I went on to become and industrial officer. I come from a union background. Dad was a shearer, who became a union delegate and then union organiser in Scone, NSW, so I learned from him that unionism is fundamental to protecting workers’ rights and the solidarity that comes from membership empowers people to stick up for themselves and for others. After moving from Sydney, I am now the Assistant Secretary of the AWU’s Tasmanian Branch. That was 13 years ago now and I feel like I’m almost a “naturalised’ Tasmanian. Since moving here I have been involved in a range of organisations, n having beena member for the Tasmanian

Photography: Getty Images

“I have had the beneÞt of working with some great people in the AWU.”

Tasmanian Branch Assistant Secretary Robert Flanagan is AWU through and through.

At the moment in Tassie, aside from dealing with the day to day issues for our members, the Union is heavily involved in the Bell Bay campaign, dealing with the ongoing anxiety of members in the forestry industry and pursuing first enterprise agreements for areas such as dairy processing, aquaculture, metalliferous mining and road surfacing. These agreements will all begin the

journey of improving the living standards of employees who will be covered by them and the conversion to collective empowerment. The industry base in Tasmania is a lot different to that in NSW. We have more of a resources industry base rather than the public sector, manufacturing, engineering and large construction projects up on the eastern mainland. In Tasmania there is metalliferous mining, smelters and foundries, dairy processing, aquaculture and marine products, poultry processing, forestry, horticulture, and like NSW, there’s quarries, construction materials, road surfacing and maintenance workers, and civil construction worker. I have also had the benefit of working with and learning from some great people in the AWU. From the early years in NSW Charlie Oliver and Ernie Ecob – each with their own strengths – taught me a lot. Later, and in more turbulent times for the union in NSW, I also learnt a lot from people like Dave Watkins, Stan Walters and Steve Molloy. The one thing that stands out for all of them, and numerous other officials and staff of the union that I have worked with, and those that I continue to work with, is their genuine commitment and striving to help protect and improve the circumstances wor of working people.

Robert is a fan of both NRL and AFL.

Building and Construction Industry Training Board, a Director on the board of Metro, and until recently a member of the Administrative Committee and an Assistant Secretary of the ALP in Tasmania. I am currently on the board of Workskills and Vice President of the Industrial Relations Society of Tasmania. Since moving here, I follow AFL and barrack for St Kilda, but my NSW roots still have me being a league supporter and I go for St George.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER ww

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Consider the applicable First State Super ABN 53 226 460 365 Product Disclosure Statement before deciding whether becoming a member or continuing your membership is right for you. To obtain a copy visit the website or call us. Issued by FSS Trustee Corporation ABN 11 118 202 672, AFSL 293340. July 2012. 1 In Rainmaker’s Benchmarking Report, June 2012, First State Super was ranked 3rd in the ‘Largest superannuation funds sorted by their total investments’. 2 Financial planning services are provided by Health Super Financial Services Pty Ltd (HSFS) (ABN 37 096 452 318, AFSL 240019) trading as FSS Financial Planning (FSSFP). FSSFP is wholly owned by the FSS Trustee Corporation (ABN 11 118 202 672, AFSL 293340), Trustee of the First State Superannuation Scheme (ABN 53 226 460 365). July 2012. 3 The funds in Money magazine’s Best of the Best Lowest-Cost Super Funds were chosen from SuperRatings’ platinum-, gold- and silver-rated balanced funds and ranked on their annual costs associated with a $50,000 balance. First State Super was the winner in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

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MEET THE DELEGATE

AW U DELEGAT E AT A SC SH I PBU I LDI NG

NATHAN CRACK

Photography: Getty Images

am a rigger, crane-driver and scaffolder for ASC Shipbuilding in Osborne near Adelaide in South Australia. When I started with ASC Shipbuilding the project had just begun, with a production workforce of 80 people, two and a half years ago. Today’s figures are over 600 with numbers increasing constantly. Before joining the shipbuilding division full time I worked for three years for ASC in their submarine maintenance section servicing the Collins Class subs they built for the Australian navy. I’m lucky because I love my job and I believe that not many people can say that. Born and bred in Whyalla, I did an apprenticeship to become a fitter and turner at the then BHP steelworks where I worked for ten years and was in the Federation of Industrial, Manufacturing and Engineering Employees (FIMEE now part of the AWU) at that time. Being the AWU delegate at ASC for the past couple of years has been really

rewarding. It’s a three-union site. We work well together, supporting each other on various issues. We have a membership sitting around 80 per cent-plus across the three unions, which is pretty good and we’re recruiting people everyday. I’m on day shift at the moment but there are two shifts with the afternoon shift going from 4pm to 12.30 am. The AWU, along with our membership, negotiated 30 per cent penalty loading on the afternoon shift, which is great. When I started with ASC we were covered by a Greenfield agreement which was light on for content, but through lengthy negotiations we were able to produce a document of substance with a term of 18 months. In February this year we began talks around our next EBA, this is still ongoing. My union influence came from my stepfather when I was younger. He was a delegate when he worked at Brambles Industrial Services in Whyalla. I’m close to my family and try to get up to see them as much I can with my

Whyalla native Nathan Crack is the AWU delegate at ASC in Osborne, South Australia.

partner Andrea, who I met in Adelaide. I play A-grade cricket for North Pines in the Para District Association and I’m an opening bowler. I used to play district cricket for West Torrens. I’m 38 and my body is getting a bit old for cricket, but I love the game. Andrea and I love going to new places, be it relaxing or fishing and there’s always work around the house – which is always an ongoing chore!

“Being the AWU delegate at ASC for the past couple of years has been really rewarding... We have a membership p of around 80 per cent and we’re recruiting people ople every day.”

Nathan is opening bowler for his local A-grade cricket team.

www.awu.net.au THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER

BINDI & RINGER NGER

WORDSEARCH Bindi & Ringer love puzzles and they love words, too. They’d like you to have a go at their wordsearch, so grab a pencil (and a rubber) and get started! Remember to ask Mum or Dad for help if you get stuck. The instructions are below the wordsearch grid and so is our secret message!

EDITED & ILLUSTRATED: Melissa Martin

Bindi and Ringer have made a list of their favourite fruits and vegetables (below) and hidden them in the grid (above) for you to find. When you’ve found each item m in the list and crossed it out in the grid, the left over letters will reveal a secret message! The fruits and vegetables can appear vertically, horizontally and diagonally and run in either direction and some letters are used more than once.

APPLE AVACADO BEETROOT BROCCOLI CAPSICUM GRAPE 50

LEMON LIME MANGO MUSHROOM ORANGE PEACH

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKER www.awu.net.au

PEAS POTATO PUMPKIN SPINACH TOMATO WATERMELON

BIRTHDAY BIRT THDAY CLUB B

Send yyour name, address and birthday, along with your bir Mum or Dad’s union M membership number, to The Australian Worker, ACP Magazines, Level 14, 66-68 Goulburn Street, Sydney 2000 and when your birthday comes around, yyou’ll receive a surprise!

SOLUTION: Eat healthy food to help you grow big and strong

KIDS’ WORDSEARCH

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