Industrial disputes & news - 24 July 2024
Vic TAFEs; Transdev; WA anaesthetic techs; NSW nurses & midwives; Saputo; Cross River Rail; Electrolux; Nine; Transgrid; Ramsay Health Care; Bolton Clarke; NSW Sheriffs; Bus Queensland; Wilmar; CFMEU
AEU Victoria - TAFE
TAFE teachers in Victoria will take a one hour stoppage today. This follows a previous one hour stoppage in June, and has the potential to escalate to a 24 hour stopwork if Jacinta Allan doesn’t make a reasonable offer to TAFE teachers in the interim. TAFE teachers are seeking decent wages as well as action on workload and improvement for working/learning conditions including class size.
RTBU - Transdev
Workers on the Sydney Light Rail have escalated their industrial campaign this week with strike action each weekday during peak hours from 8am - 10am and 4pm - 6pm. Workers are fighting for more sickpay and a pay increase to keep up with the cost of living. Transdev has offered at 18% pay increase over 4 years, the RTBU wants 23% over 4 years.
HSU WA - Public Anaesthetic Technician
Anaesthetic Technicians in WA’s public hospitals have been taking industrial action in pursuit of a fair pay deal and pay structure. Workers held stopwork meetings at several hospitals this week. Anaesthetic Technicians want to land this pay deal in order to boost retention rates and staffing levels.
NSWNMA - Public Health Sector nurses & midwives
A video message from Assistant General Secretary, Michael Whaites indicates that negotiations took a bit of a step backwards. Not to be discouraged, the NSWNMA is now calling a bunch of “own time” rallies at hospitals which kicked off yesterday (23/7) and will continue every day this week. This escalation is to bolster the NSWNMA 15% wage claim, and show the NSW Government they mean business. Get along to a rally to support your local nurses and midwives if you can - details are available here.
CEPU Tasmania/AMWU - Saputo
Workers at the Saputo factory in Burnie have been on strike for 6 weeks. Unions and the community held a family day on Saturday (20/7) to show their support for the striking workers. Workers are fighting for pay parity with their mainland colleagues who are paid up to 23.5% less than Victorian Saputo workers. The AMWU have opened up a fighting fund for the workers - details in the image below.
CFMEU QLD - Cross River Rail
After recommencing industrial action on the Cross River Rail job last week, the CFMEU was back in court on Thursday. CPB, the head contractor on the job, secured a Federal Court decision on Thursday evening that bars CFMEU members from “going to or remaining within 15 metres of entrances at the 16 Cross River Rail sites” with the exception of union members entering sites “for the purpose of performing work.” CFMEU members are also now not allowed to photograph or record any person or vehicle entering or exiting a Cross River Rail worksite. Not to be outdone, the CFMEU has set up on a traffic island beyond the 15 metre exclusion zone, christened it “Solidarity Island” and have moved the picket there.
AMWU SA - Electrolux
After taking industrial action in April and May, workers at Electrolux in SA have resolved their dispute. My notes from during the dispute say workers were fighting for an 18% increase over 3 years after receiving no increase since 2022. The announcement of the win says that trade workers have won a 22% increase over 3 years and that production workers have won “a 12% boost, with 5% backdated to January 2024.”
MEAA - Nine Publishing
Journalists at Nine’s newspapers (SMH, The Age, AFR, Brisbane Times & WAToday) commenced industrial action on Monday by calling for public support on on social media. Workers have threatened to commence 5 days of strike action from Friday if a deal isn’t made in a bargaining meeting due to be held today. The MEAA has been in negotiations for months but bosses are not addressing key claims including decent pay to keep up with the cost of living; commitment to workplace gender and cultural diversity; improved grade progressions and adhering to the MEAA freelance charter of rights. Nine Network recently announced job cuts, disproportionately effecting the print division - with 90 jobs expected to be cut from the papers.
ETU NSW - Transgrid
Transgrid has put a substandard EBA out to workers to vote on. A video of NSW Branch Secretary Allen Hicks from the 24/7 picket at Transgrid HQ summed up the main issues with the proposed EBA: it’s not in line with industry standards; it doesn’t keep up with the cost of living; Transgrid is threatening workers that if they vote no, backpay is off the table (not true!); and CEO Brett Redman is refusing to meet with union representative to negotiate. The ETU is encouraging all Transgrid workers to vote NO.
NSWNMA - Ramsay Health Care
Ramsay Health Care nurses and midwives will take 3 hours of strike action on Thursday (25/7). Negotiations for a new agreement began in March 2023. Ramsay’s most recent offer was 11% over 3 years, which workers say is below inflation. The NSWNMA also wants the introduction of shift by shift nurse-to-patient ratios in all wards and units.
ANMF Victoria - Bolton Clarke
Nurses, midwives and carers employed by Bolton Clarke held a 2 hour stop work and community rally on Monday (22/7) at Bolton Clarke HQ in Forest Hill. Workers commenced industrial action last week by wearing campaign tshirts; talking to residents/clients/community members about the dispute; writing campaign messages on cars and some work bans. After an initial 0% wage offer, Bolton Clarke’s most recent offer is a 1 year agreement with a 2% wage increase. The ANMF is demanding a minimum of 4% to keep up with industry standards.
PSA NSW - NSW Sheriffs
PSA members in the NSW Sheriff’s Office in the West/Southwest regions took stopwork action last Wednesday for 2 hours. Sheriffs believe their wages lag behind when compared to other NSW public servants such as correctional officers and cops. The PSA is fighting for a decent pay rise for the sheriffs, which they believe will assist with the staffing crisis - caused by poor pay which leads to high attrition rates, and an inability to recruit or retain officers.
TWU QLD - Bus Queensland
It has been revealed that Bus Queensland, a private company contracted by TransLink to provide public bus routes has refused to accept and pass on government funding earmarked for wage increases to drivers. Bosses don’t want to accept the money as it would result in “implementation costs” as well as covering the equivalent wage increase cost for annual leave and driving work not covered by the subsidy. Bus Queensland management also object to the condition of the wage subsidy that companies send drivers to a forum, which involves the TWU, that covers issues such as driver safety, violence, and yes - union membership. The TWU is continuing to agitate for Bus Queensland drivers, and is asking the community to sign a petition in support of them.
ETU QLD/AMWU/AWU - WIlmar Sugar
The dispute at Wilmar Sugar continues. Wilmar closed its mills for 16 hours due to strike action by workers on Thursday (18/7). The strike itself only last 1 hour, but apparently “safe shutdown and restart of boilers and turbines” takes 15 hours. I have no idea whether that is true or not. Any sugar mill workers want to send me an email and let me know, please do! Meanwhile, cane growers are frustrated with the standoff. I’d like to remind them, that Wilmar could have this dispute sorted quicker than it takes to restart a boiler by giving workers a fair deal!
ANMF VIC - Public Sector Nurses & Midwives
Nurses and midwives are still awaiting the ballot to vote on the EBA endorsed by a mass meeting on 26 June. I want to share a piece in Overland this week written by Hollie Moly, a rank and file ANMF member about the 2024-2028 EBA Campaign. It’s rare to see a longform piece about a single EBA campaign, but these sort of reflections are incredibly useful for the individuals who have the patience to write them, for their union comrades, and, in my opinion - for all workers. Well worth a read:
“The key lesson of this campaign has been that greater democracy must lie at the heart of any union campaign that dares to strive for more. Even within the current structure, it was the engagement of members in the few avenues available to them that made a better deal possible. The more engaged and active members are in the union, the stronger, more dynamic and better representative our union becomes. An entrenched, disengaged leadership cannot effectively gauge nor respond to the mood and demands of the membership, even if it hoped or needed to.”
CFMEU Crisis
Perhaps the best indication of how the CFMEU is responding to its crisis is from the song choices on Sunday’s (21/7) episode of the Concrete Gang: Johnny Cash’s cover of I Won’t Back Down and Lads of the BLF. There hasn’t been much else out of the Victorian branch since this bru-ha-ha kicked off, but the hosts of the Concrete Gang projected a calm demeanour of business as usual and promised that organisers would be getting around to job sites. Queensland Branch Secretary Michael Ravbar was more direct, issuing a statement that said that “Albanese has panicked and soiled himself over some unproven allegation in the media.” Ravbar has issued several statements which are worth reading. The NSW Branch let a video of delegates and members do the talking which thanked their Executive leadership and the union for everything it had provided workers over the generations and finished with a mighty UNION POWER chant. The SA Branch and WA Branch both issued statements calling for calm and business as usual in their states. The ACT Branch also issued a statement demanding that any investigation into criminality must look at the whole construction industry, reminding members that only 5 years ago the home of a former secretary of the ACT Branch “was riddled with bullets while he was at home with his family.” It has been reported that National Secretary Zach Smith wants to speak to Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong to discuss the proposed administration, and in a letter said “I wish to understand what your proposal would mean for the day-to-day work of the union, in order to ensure that short and long-term rights of our members – and their democratic rights within the union – are protected.” Time will tell.
My comments in last week’s report about the CFMEU have now been beautifully illustrated by Sam Wallman. You can see the whole comic in Overland, and you can support Sam’s work over at his Patreon. This piece in Overland has resulted in many new subscribers to Disputes Report - so if this is your first week here, welcome!
That’s all I’ve got this week. As always, if there’s a dispute kicking off in your workplace or industry - please let me know!
In solidarity, Sarah