Industrial disputes & news - 20 March 2024
Monash Uni; Simpec; Yallourn; Ambulance Victoria; Birdon wire-drawn ferries; BAE Systems; Federal firies & the AFP; RMIT; Vline; Transgrid; Transperth; Victorian TAFEs; Tassie nurses
NTEU VIC - Monash
Starting at midday today workers at Monash will commence 24 hours strike action. The NTEU has been in negotiations with the university for 18 months with only very minor progress. The workers are demanding job security; an hours-linked cap on academic workloads; a right to work from home and a 4.5% pay increase this year.
CFMEU WA - Simpec
200 cement workers at Simpec in Kwinana are on strike this week. Workers intended to only be out for 24 hours, but are now determined to stay out for a week. After voting down subpar agreements put forward by the bosses 3 times, workers are determined to fight for a fair pay rise and decent conditions.
MEU - Yallourn Power Station
Emergency Services Officers at Yallourn Power Station have entered their 6th week of industrial action. Members are fighting for a pay increase and redundancy entitlements equivalent to other workers at Yallourn which will be decommissioned entirely by 2028. Workers have not had a pay increase since 2022, and their bosses haven’t been in touch with union reps since December.
VAU - Ambulance Victoria
Paramedics in Victoria commenced industrial action on Monday by chalking messages on their ambulances. A key issue in the dispute is the right to finish work on time, with paramedics often being forced into taking jobs minutes before their shifts are scheduled to end, making it impossible to organise their own lives. The Victorian Ambulance Union has threatened to escalate industrial action at the end of the week by sounding beacons if they are ramped for more than 40 minutes.
MUA - Birdon wire drawn ferries
After the MUA threatening a campaign of rolling, indefinite industrial action on all wire drawn ferries, Birdon seems to have marginally gotten their act together and finally come to the negotiating table. As such, industrial action this week is limited bans rather than complete stoppages. Workers hope this dispute can be resolved, but are prepared to escalate their campaign again if needed. MUA here to stay!
RTBU - Transperth
Transperth “Transit Officers” will undertake their first “Fair Wage Friday” this Friday 22 March. This industrial action has officers not checking tickets or issuing fines. The RTBU has claimed it will continue this action on the last Friday of the month until they get a fair wage deal. The union was offered, and rejected, a last minute deal that consisted of a 4.75% increase in the first year followed by 3% increases in the next two years. The union is pushing for a 7% increase in the first year and 5% in the second.
AMWU/ETU/MUA - BAE Systems
Workers at BAE Systems in WA have voted down a subpar agreement put forward by the boss. Let’s see if BAE will make a better offer now. Workers are seeking a decent payrise - a 9% increase in the first year, and 5% in each of the following 2 years.
AFPA & UFU - APSC
Federal aviation firefighters and AFP cops have both voted strongly in favour of taking industrial action. The core of the dispute is that the public sector wide pay deal negotiated primarily with the CPSU includes generous work from home conditions that are inaccessible for cops and firefighters, as well as the tradies of the Department of Parliamentary Services. The “in the field” workers are finding the offer deeply inadequate. The firefighters were threatening to take industrial action over the Easter holidays which could have caused airport havoc, but have deferred any action until after Easter.
NTEU VIC - RMIT
Workers at RMIT will take strike action commencing at 12.30pm on Monday March 25th and ending Thursday March 28th at 11.59pm, with Friday 29th a public holiday… that’s a week long strike and the longest in RMIT’s history. Workers have been in dispute with the university for… ages. Their previous EBA expired in 2022. Workers demands are pretty simple - job security, a decent pay rise and workload relief.
RTBU VIC - Vline
The RTBU has withdrawn scheduled industrial action that was going to shutdown the Vline network on 22 & 28 March. The information was first shared in a tweet by Vline. Branch Secretary Vik Sharma was quoted as saying "After months of bargaining, seven statewide stoppages, and conferences held at the Fair Work Commission, V/Line have finally provided information that allows our bargaining team to have meaningful negotiations." There will now be a four week negotiating period overseen by an independent mediator. Fingers crossed for a good outcome for Vline workers!
ETU NSW - Transgrid
Sparkies at Transgrid took 24 hours strike action on Friday 15 March, the second 24 hour strike they have taken in this campaign for a fair pay deal. The union has notified Transgrid of another 24 hour stoppage this Friday, 22 March, and the next meeting with Transgrid is on 26 March. Workers are seeking annual increases of 8% for three years.
AEU Victoria - TAFE
AEU members at Victorian TAFE colleges are voting in a protected action ballot this week. Negotiations with the state government have been underway for 20 months. The Allan government has put forward an embarrassingly low 3% per annum increase for TAFE teachers, and nothing to alleviate workload concerns. Possible industrial action could include work bans or stop work actions.
ANMF Tasmania- Ambulance ramping
Nurses at the Launceston and Hobart hospitals held stop work meetings last week over a Liberal state election pledge to “ban” ambulance ramping. The pledge requires patients to be transferred from ambulances to emergency departments within 60 minutes. The ANMF argues that this shifts risk from one over stretched part of the health system to another.
That’s all I’ve got this week. Please get in touch if you have any feedback, or to let me know which disputes I’m missing in this coverage.
In solidarity, Sarah