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Issue No. 259 | 15 April 2005 |
Roosting Chooks
Interview: Australia@Work Unions: State of the Union Industrial: Fashion Accessories Legal: Leg Before Picket Politics: Business Welfare Brats Health: Cannabis Controversy Economics: Debt, Deficit, Downturn History: Politics In The Pubs Review: Three Bob's Worth Poetry: Do The Slowly Chokie
Hostile Takeover - Can Howard Do It? Vanstone Shows Brickie�s Cleavage Sparkies Refine Safety Tactics
The Soapbox The Locker Room Culture Parliament
Labor Council of NSW |
News Big Call in Newcastle
Casual sheet metal worker, Greg Wannan, rang the AMWU Newcastle office to check out how workmates at Collex could improve their families' living standards. The 10 originals, employed on maintenance at the Eraring Power Station, all joined the union and used the casual conversion clause in the Metal Trades Award as leverage to get wage increases of between $100 and $250 a week. "Having that clause was an important lever in our argument," AMWU organiser, Daniel Wallace, said. "Some of these people had been casuals for over seven years. "Collex were pretty reasonable, once their responsibilities were pointed out." The campaign started with off-site meetings and finished with three months of negotiations that delivered an EBA. Key gains included hourly rate movements of between 14 and 23 percent; uncapped redundancy at 2.6 weeks per year of service; a range of allowances, including $1.50 per hour for everyone at Eraring; and transfers to fulltime terms. Wallace said one of the most pleasing outcomes was evidence that improved wages and conditions, helped the employer. "When we started this process, Collex had 10 trades people and now they have 20 and plan to take on at least another five," he said. "It's been win-win, all round." With union support, Collex has adopted training and safety procedures that open up asbestos removal for which it pays workers an additional $2 an hour, on top of a 25 percent off-site loading. Wallace said Wannan, a 22-year AMWU member, had been the catalyst for the improvements.
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