Industrial disputes & news - 11 September 2024
Qube; Don KR; VicPol; NSW Nurses; ASC; Victoria University; ACL; Saputo; TasNetworks; Bolton Clarke; VITS; Mt Isa Council; BAE Systems; Transgrid; Sydney Trains; Etex; UniMelb; Scope; CFMEU & more
MUA - QUBE
Industrial action at Qube’s bulk and general ports will kick off this week in Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane with more locations to follow as protected action ballots get voted up. The MUA is fighting for a fair share of the profits made by workers, with MUA Deputy National Secretary Warren Smith noting that “Qube profit has risen 148% over the past four years, executive pay had risen 16%, shareholder dividends rose 75% but Qube workers’ pay has been diminished by more than 14% against rampant inflation caused by corporate profit gouging”. Industrial action at Qube will include stoppages, and a range of work bans.
ETU VIC/AMWU - Don KR
Industrial action continues at Don KR in Castlemaine. No new developments - picket line is in place, and workers should continue to be aware that labour hire firms are recruiting for strikebreaking labour.
TPAV - Victoria Police
Victorian Police and PSOs commenced industrial action on Thursday (5/9). Cops rejected the government’s previous offer of 3% annual increases and a 9 day fortnight and are demanding 24% over 4 years and the introduction of 8.5 hour shifts to take into account. TPAV have pointed to the wage increase won by ANMF members noting “Our members have seen other workers receiving higher pay rises and they feel that the nature and importance of their work to the community should be held in the same regard and attract the same rewards.” Initial industrial action activities include chalking messages on police vehicles and alerting the general public to speed cameras. TPAV have indicated they will hold another vote amongst members to escalate action soon.
NSWNMA - Public sector nurses and midwives
Despite the NSW Industrial Relations Commission ordering the NSWNMA and its members to not “induce, advise, authorise, support, encourage, direct, aid or abet members of the Association to organise or take industrial action” nurses and midwives across NSW took strike action yesterday. The 12 hour strike started at 7am and included rallies at several larger hospitals around the state. Nurses and midwives are sticking to their claim for a 15% wage increase and are becoming increasingly frustrated with the NSW government’s refusal to negotiate about pay.
HACSU Tasmania - Child safety workers
Child Safety and Youth Justice workers in Hobart held a 4 hour stopwork action last Wednesday (4/9). Workers are fighting for a comprehensive agreement that covers everyone in the sector. Workers are particularly angry that some workers, but not all, were offered a 15% market allowance and bonus cash payments. The union does not approve of the workplace being divided, and believes the piecemeal measures only exacerbate the staffing crisis. In a tiny step, HACSU was invited to meet with the Department for Education, Children and Young People, however the union wants to meet with the key decision maker, Minister for Children and Youth Roger Jaensch.
AMWU SA - ASC (Australian Submarine Corporation)
Workers from ASC rallied outside Parliament House last Thursday (5/9) as their now long running dispute continues and negotiations with management broke down this week. Workers are fighting for a 18.5% pay rise to reach pay parity with their counterparts in WA.
HSU WA - Public sector health workers
The HSU WA have rejected the government’s second offer a slightly improved 12% over 3 years (up from 8.25%). The HSU WA, as part of the Public Sector Alliance in WA are demanding a 12% increase over 2 years (7% and 5%). In addition to the question of wages, the HSU WA Committee of Management notes that the union “submitted 20 claims to improve conditions. The State Government has not fully agreed to any, has partially agreed to 12 claims (most are either low or no cost claims) and has failed to respond to 8 claims.” The HSU WA has warned that more industrial action will be taken in the coming weeks.
NTEU Victoria - Victoria University
Following Victoria University’s disgraceful standing down of workers participating in work bans last week, NTEU members battle on this week with a range of systems bans. From 12:01am on Monday, NTEU members at VU will not be using Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Jabber, Zoom or Engageware. The very thought of a week without Microsoft Teams may be the best recruiting tool for office workers across the country. While VU management have claimed the NTEU has “misrepresented” their position, workers have received an outpouring of solidarity from students, fellow NTEU members across the country and the community. Workers will meet again today (11/9) for a bargaining update and management’s response.
HSU WA - Australian Clinical Labs
Members of the HSU WA at Australian Clinical Labs will stop work for 4 hours on Thursday (12/9). The workers’ EBA expired in May, and an initial offer presented by management in July was “overwhelmingly” rejected by workers. The offer meant many workers would only have received pay increases that would keep their wages at the legal minimum. ACL were expected to present a new pay offer, but with no offer being forthcoming, workers will commence industrial action at 7am on Thursday. The 4 hour stop work is expected to cause delays but the union has said patients with critical or urgent needs will be looked after. In addition to the stopwork, workers will be handing out leaflets to patients and posting on social media.
CEPU Tasmania/AMWU - Saputo
As workers at Saputo enter their 13th week of strike action, it has now been reported that union posters in support of the strike at 2 homes have been slashed with knives. The union noticeboard on site at the factory had also been stripped. The AMWU state secretary described the attacks as "creepy and violent behaviour". The workers at Saputo are fighting for pay parity with mainland Saputo workers who earn up to 23.5% more. In addition to this industrial dispute, Canadian multinational Saputo has also announced that it will sell or close the 120 year old King Island Dairy which will likely result in the loss of 60 local jobs.
CEPU Tasmania - TasNetworks
The CEPU has been forced to suspend industrial action at TasNetworks for a month after intervention by the Fair Work Commission. This followed accusations from TasNetworks that union workers were participating in a “go-slow” as they assisted Tasmanians in getting reconnected to power after wild weather lashed the state. Interestingly after accusations and the subsequent suspension of industrial action, there were media reports that TasNetworks had said “power restoration will be more complex than first thought so there will be an indefinite timeline for problems to be fixed.” Workers at TasNetworks are fighting for pay parity with mainland workers.
ANMF Vic - Bolton Clarke
Nurses and carers at Bolton Clarke have voted down management’s agreement despite intense pressure and sneaky tactics. Stay tuned for next steps in this campaign.
Professionals Australia - Victorian Interpreting and Translating Service (VITS)
Interpreters with the Victorian Interpreting and Translating Service (VITS) are expected to hold a 90 minute stop work meeting outside the County Court this morning for the 4th week in a row. The change to how interpreters are contracted is estimated to reduce annual incomes by between $8000 - $30000. Professionals Australia has said these short stopwork meetings are “only the beginning” and workers will be meeting to discuss next steps.
The Services Union - Mt Isa City Council
Workers at Mt Isa City Council took industrial action yesterday (10/9). After delays of 2 years, the Council has offered workers 11.25% over 3 years. Workers are demanding 15% over 3 years as well as improved superannuation, and action from management to close the gender pay gap, and a plan to deal with recruitment and retention issues.
AMWU SA - BAE Systems
Over 100 workers at BAE Systems in Adelaide walked off the job for 24 hours from 7am on Tuesday (10/9). The facility machines titanium parts that make up the twin tail fins of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Over the last four years, workers’ wages have not kept up with the cost of living. BAE System’s initial offer of 9.75% wage increase over 3 years has been rejected by workers. The union is demanding 6.5% annual wage increases over a 3 year agreement.
ETU NSW - Transgrid
In some welcome good news, the FWC granted the ETU’s appeal against the suspension of industrial action at Transgrid. This means protected industrial action is BACK at Transgrid. Industrial action also continues at Essential Energy, Endeavour Energy and Ausgrid.
RTBU - Sydney Trains
The RTBU will commence industrial action on 18 September in response to the Metro conversion of the Sydenham to Bankstown line. It is proposed the line will be shut down for 12 months to do the conversion, and the trains will then be replaced with a driverless Metro. The industrial action will include workers not working on any changed timetable; bans on doing any work on the Bankstown line if the section is to be converted is shut as well as a ban on any work by infrastructure workers if the temperature is higher than 30 degrees; a ban on removing dead animals from the tracks and a ban on training new trainees. More broadly rail unions including RTBU, ETU, AMWU, Professionals Australia and the ASU are applying for protected action ballots in order to take protected action as part of their campaign for a 3 year deal with annual pay rises of 8%. The deal would cover Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink workers. In addition to the pay increases workers want better parental and carers leave, job security measures and flexible work arrangements. The ballot closes on September 26. Stay tuned.
CFMEU NSW/ETU NSW - Etex
Workers are approaching a month on the grass at Etex, but are continuing their fight for a fair EBA.
NTEU Vic - University of Melbourne
A small but significant dispute has been brewing at the University of Melbourne this year. In February, 9 fixed-term teaching staff in the Maths and Statistics Department were informed that their contracts would not be renewed at the end of the year. Most of these workers have been working on precarious contracts for at least 10 years. One had been insecurely employed for 27 years. 6 of the 9 staff are Asian women, in a strongly male dominated department. In response, the NTEU branch has been demanding the workers be converted to ongoing positions - they put together an open letter; held a rally on campus; marched on the boss and demanded a meeting with the Dean. An HR rep denied the workers a meeting due to being “very busy”. Last Thursday (5/9), management targeted a handful of the workers involved by locking them out of their offices. While an HSR was able to intervene and have this reversed within a day, it demonstrates the lengths management is prepared to go to in response to reasonable requests from workers.
HSU National - Scope
The HSU has reached an agreement with Scope a not-for-profit disability service provider that will mean workers can access 12 days of leave to cover IVF, severe menstrual pain, endometriosis, vasectomies, menopause, gender transitioning therapies and other reproductive health issues. The Union is calling for the 12 day entitlement to be included in the minimum employment standards for all workers.
10 things workers need to know about the CFMEU
Following the CEPU voting to leave the ACTU over the peak body’s support for the Albanese Government’s legislation to put the CFMEU under administration, Sally McManus put out a video about the CFMEU being put under administration which in my opinion rewrites history, and skates over the fact that the Federal Government’s legislation is not just an unprecedented attack on union rights, but also circumvented fair legal processes. Frustrated by the one sided handling of this situation by the media, I wrote a short piece (illustrated by Sam Wallman) for Overland. It’s called 10 things workers need to know about the CFMEU, and it looks at the facts about the union, the legislation, and what this means for the union movement. But, as the saying goes, don’t mourn - organise! Building industry union delegates in Victoria are set to meet at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Thursday to launch a campaign in support of industry wide enterprise agreements, vent their anger at the government and the ACTU; and potentially endorse another mass rally.
That is all I’ve got this week. I know I’ve missed a few things things, but have run out of time! Thanks to the comrades who have gotten in touch and shared updates and news from the shop floor with me this week.
In solidarity, Sarah