Industrial disputes & news - 26 June 2024
Woolies; Victorian nurses & midwives; Air Liquide; workers at the NTEU; Tassie medical imaging workers; Quantem Bulk Liquids; WA TAFEs; Otis & Kone; Endeavour Energy;
RAFFWU - Woolworths
Voting in the employee ballot for the Woolworths 2024 Enterprise Agreement closed on Wednesday last week. RAFFWU helped deliver a 38% no vote on an SDA back EBA. This is a seriously impressive result translating to 35,997 Woolies workers voting no. It is also a giant increase from the 6.5% no vote recorded in the Woolies EBA ballot in 2018. Only 76% of workers participated in this year’s ballot, so this is certainly not a comprehensive victory or endorsement of the SDA. The deal which the SDA spruiked as a 3.75% wage increase will in fact leave workers only 42 cents better off than the award. The SDA has also been accused of bribing workers into voting for the deal by providing a $299 Woolies gift card to workers if they voted yes, and promising another $299 gift card when the agreement is approved by the FWC.
ANMF - Victorian public sector nurses & midwives
ANMF members in Victoria will participate in another mass meeting this afternoon to consider a revised government offer. The ANMF campaign update describes this revised offer as including “a 28.4% (compounded) wage increase by the end of the fourth year of the agreement.” I’m not entirely sure what the union means by compounded, and no detail has been released on what the year by year increases would be. Nurses and midwives voted down the last government offer, which included 3% per annum wage increases, cash bonuses and a promised “gender equity uplift” of between 5.5 and 13.3% pending a FWC decision. Nurses and midwives in the public sector have been taking protected industrial action since 7 May.
AWU - Air Liquide
Workers at Air Liquide in Sunshine North held a 24 hour stoppage on Thursday 20th June as part of their EBA campaign. The AWU have been assisting workers in negotiating a new EBA since January and most issues have been resolved, except the question of backpay (around $18,000 per worker). The bosses have been behaving poorly, stalling, refusing meetings, trying to mislead workers and undermine the union. Workers will be protesting again today at Air Liquide Head Office at 600 St Kilda Road, Melbourne from 9am - 11am.
ASU Vic Private Sector Branch - NTEU Victoria
It is understood that workers at the NTEU Victoria Branch have negotiated a deal with their employer. Workers will receive 20% in wage increases over the life of the agreement (2022-2027). Workers have also won a sign-on bonus, 5 days reproductive health leave and a guarantee of 2 days per week working from home. ASU members at the union have taken industrial action over the past few months including strike action in May.
HACSU Tasmania - Medical imaging workers
Medical imaging workers (ultrasounds, radiographers etc) in Tasmania held a 30 minute stop work meeting out the front of the Royal Hobart Hospital on 19 June. Tasmania’s health system is in pretty dire straits, and workers are demanding the immediate implementation of a “20% market allowance”. This is a mechanism that allows the government to pay market rates for hard to fill positions. For example, a Senior Sonographer role at the RHH has been listed for 6 months with no applicants. Failure to fill key roles obviously creates workload issues for workers, but also leaves members of the community unable to access urgent diagnostic tests.
MUA/UWU/CFMEU - Quantem Bulk Liquids
Workers at Quantem Bulk Liquids in Pinkenba (QLD); Corio (Vic); Largs Bay (SA); and Fremantle (WA) walked off the job and held stopwork meetings on Friday (21/6). Each meeting, plus a meeting of Operators at Port Botany endorsed this motion:
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘴 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 ‘𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨’ 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥; 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬; 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴.
𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘺𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺-𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘣 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴.
𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦”
SSTUWA - WA TAFEs
The Age has reported that WA TAFE teachers have commenced industrial action including stopping entering student results into IT systems; not attending meetings and not answering internal emails. The SSTUWA has been in EBA negotiations for 9 months, but the government has not made a decent offer. I haven’t seen any reporting of this industrial action anywhere else or any mention of it on SSTUWA social media so details are a bit scarce! Any WA TAFE teachers reading? Please feel free to send me a message with further details!
CEPU Tasmania - Otis & KONE
CEPU members working in the lift industry in Tasmania have been campaigning for pay parity with the mainland and a fair deal in their EBAs. New EBAs at Otis and Kone have both recently been approved by the FWC. The two EBAs have been made more similar to ensure the bosses can’t pit workers against each other. Workers have also won income protection and an improved classification structure. The Kone agreement gets workers a 19% increase over 3 years; and Otis workers will be getting 16% over 2.5 years. The CEPU have said this drags wages “from the bottom of the national lift industry pay table and closer to the national average”. Workers took industrial action early in the year including a half day strike and not taking after hours calls.
ETU NSW - Endeavour Energy
The AFR has reported on the impact of 5 months of industrial action at Endeavour Energy estimating 1600 houses and $1.2 billion of industrial developments had been effected by the industrial action. The AFR also reports that the industrial action escalated last week by banning switching in the control room as well as by field crews; and that from this Friday to Sunday, the ETU will place a workban on unlocking any devices including mobile devices, swicthboards, access gates and substations. Workers are fighting for 8% annual wage increases as well as increased superannuation and improvements to conditions.
That’s all I’ve got this week! I want to send a big thank you to the readers who have sent me through information and updates on disputes. It’s incredibly helpful, and makes the report more complete. If you know about a dispute, particularly one that isn’t getting a lot of attention, please send me an email or message and let me know what’s happening!
Also, I have (reluctantly) started an Instagram account to assist in the distribution of Disputes Report. You can follow me here.
In solidarity, Sarah