
Issue No 66		11 August 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

News

Selley's Workers Stick to Union

Weekend home renovators may find it hard to get popular Selleys products - such as Araldite, Polystrippa and Poly Filla - as 130 Selleys workers have voted to go on a seven day strike.

The union members are worried that the Australian-owned company wants to get rid of union representation at its plant.

There is a 24 hour peaceful protest outside the premises. All unionists are welcome to drop in at any time to show support.

If you do decide to drop in please talk to Matt Warburton or Kathie Keys ( 9281 9511 0r 9281 9577) from the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union to see if there is anything needed by the peaceful protesters. Any coffee, tea, biscuits, and other assorted munchies will always be welcome.

The LHMU members and supporters will be holding a rally/barbecue/meeting on Tuesday 15 August at 12 noon outside the plant - 1 Gow St Padstow - to discuss any future actions.

This weekend Paint Industry Workers and other unionists will hand out leaflets outside retail outlets to inform Selleys customers of the company's actions in this dispute and leading up to the dispute.

Enterprise bargaining negotiations between the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) and Selleys broke down this week when the company refused a claim for a 6 per cent wage increase.

" The union has represented the workers for more than 40 years. The members are Araldited onto this union. They are sticking as hard as the product they make," Mark Boyd, the Assistant Secretary of the LHMU said.

Selleys is the producer of popular consumer products for households, as well as the building and construction industry.

" We have been very close to settling this dispute. The company has rejected a number of settlement proposals which provided most of what they wanted from our negotiations," Mark Boyd said.

" The feeling among the membership is that the new general manager wants to provoke trouble, probably with a strategy behind it to de-unionise the factory.

" But the members want to stick to collective bargaining and want to stick to the union."

The average pay that a Selleys worker takes home is about $35,000.

The managing director and CEO, Mr Philip Weickhardt, has a salary package of $841,000.

Selleys is a division of Orica, an Australian chemical company, with annual sales of around $4 billion. Eighteen percent of these sales come from the Selleys division.

Pickets at Selley's Sydney plant in Padstow began on Wednesday after a vote by the morning and afternoon shifts of LHMU members.

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Issue 66 contents

Interview: Shifting Sands
Michael Crosby Joint Director of the ACTU Organising Centre talks to Workers Online about the changing nature of union power, 'use it or lose it' coverage and how the ALP will have to deal with a transformed union movement.

Unions: Mission Possible
From Cambodia to Kyrghyzstan, from Malawi to Mozambique, this is one nurse who accepts certain missions where life is on the edge, and she loves it.

Economics: A Progressive Alternative
Andrew Scott outlines a policy approach for an ALP Government that aims to deliver social as well as economic progress.

International: Unions Back International Seafarer Deal
Shipping union representatives from 56 countries have decided to back a pioneering international collective bargaining agreement with ship employers.

Politics: Apolitical Myth
Over the last ten years one story about public interest in politics has found resonance, especially in the US. It suggests that people are no longer interested in political issues. Researchers from the Demos Foundation put this claim under the microscope.

Satire: Elaine Nile retires citing victory in "War on Masturbation"
There were emotional displays and many tributes paid today as Elaine Nile, Christian Democrat MP of 12 years standing, announced her retirement from the Parliament.

Review: Pure Shit
The 1970s Aussie drug classic, Pure Shit - a 70s Australian style Trainspotting - is being dusted off for a one-off showing at the Chauvel.

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