Issue No 56 | 02 June 2000 | |
NewsJoy's Winter of DiscontentBy Rowan Cahill
Reithian tactics continue to characterise the bitter Joy Manufacturing dispute on the Southern Highlands of NSW involving 70 workers.
The dispute evolved out of the break down of EBA processes earlier this year, a couple of days' stoppages in early January, and Joy management's attempt to cover one site with four separate agreements and four separate expiry dates. Pressure was put on the workers to reach an agreement and a lockout was threatened. Workers withdrew their labour and established a picket line when the Company began to transfer unfinished work off site. That was at the end of March. A fortnight later the Company retaliated using Reith's Workplace Relations Act to lock the picketers out for three months...... On May 25 a paternalistic and intimidating letter from Joy management was sent to each locked-out worker, disparaging union efforts to resolve the dispute. It was all very nineteenth century and Master and Servantish. Accusing unions of organising "certain disruptions", the Company reminded workers of the individual penalties they face should they defy current Supreme Court injunctions, and hinted the lockout might continue past the original three months. It was then suggested workers might like to talk matters over with management individually, apparently without union representation. A couple of days later correspondence between the Company's legal team and solicitors representing the three unions involved in the dispute (the AMWU, AWU, and CEPU), entered the industrial arena. Joy's solicitors began by endeavouring to allay worker concern that the Company may be in economic straits and unable to fund accrued employee entitlements. The letter then generally suggested voluntary redundancies as a possible way forward; no numbers were mentioned, an implication being the unions seek expressions of interest amongst the locked-out workers. If volunteers came forward, the letter explained, then the Company could "reconsider its current operating structure". On Tuesday May 30 a meeting took place at the main picket cum lockout encampment, outside the Moss Vale worksite, between the workers and union officials. This meeting rejected talk of redundancies along these lines, regarding it as divisive. So far as the workers are concerned, if some form of radical restructuring is on the agenda, which many suspect is the case, then everything has to be negotiable and on the table. For the present, and with the feeling that maybe not all the cards are on the table, the main issue for the workers remains what it was at the beginning of the dispute; the continuation of a single EBA for all Joy workers as opposed to the Company's proposed four separate agreements. The meeting authorised the unions to take the matter back to Company management or its legal team, depending on who is realistic and sensible enough to deal with the union movement. Meanwhile the locked out picket line remains in place, in spite of the onset of winter with its zero overnight temperatures, strong winds, rain, sleet, and light falls of snow.
|
Interview: When the War is Over Teachers Federation chief Sue Simpson has just come through the industrial dispute of a lifetime. But where to now for her members? Politics: The Beazley Manifesto Read the full transcript of Kim Beazley's Fraser Lecture develiered this week, where he unveiled Labor's new industrial relations platform. Unions: Dudded on the Dock of the Bay Until a few weeks ago Allan and Beverley Crelley had never ever heard of SERCO the big London multinational that specialises in winning contracts from governments committed to outsourcing their workers. History: The Long March for Justice Against the backdrop of the Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge that took place last Sunday, it is worthwhile recognising that trade unionists were actively promoting the issue decades ago. International: UK Unions Turn the Corner Union membership is on the rise for the first time in 20 years, indicating an early response to union recognition legislation set to come into effect next month. Work/Time/Life: Flexible Clerks Save Hours The Australian Services Union has successfully blocked an attempt by wholesaler Davids Limited to force clerical staff at the company's Blacktown office from flexible working hours to a standard 38 hour week. Review: Who Really Won the War? It might be being pulped for a reference to serial-suitor Peter Costello, but 'Waterfront' has sparked some lively debate about our recent industrial history. Satire: Gosper's New Torch Role A week after he was excluded from the Olympic torch relay as a result of public criticism, Kevan Gosper has been reinstated by SOCOG President Michael Knight for a special project.
Notice Board View entire latest issue
|
© 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/56/news8_joy.htmlLast Modified: 15 Nov 2005 [ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ] LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW |