
Issue No 70		07 September 2000

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News

Multi-national Stymies Peace Talks

By Rowan Cahill

The long running Moss Vale Joy Mining Machinery dispute is set to continue with workers voting on Tuesday to continue strike action until October 9.

The bitter dispute, involving about 60 workers, has see-sawed between strikes and lock-outs for almost six months following the collapse of enterprise bargaining processes and company attempts to deunionise the workforce.

The decision to extend the strike follows the breakdown of resolution talks between the unions involved (the AMWU, AWU, CEPU), the ACTU, and Joy representatives last week.

It is understood the talks were making headway until they were stymied by the intervention of Joy's multi-national American owners Harnischfeger Industries Inc.

There have been reports from the picket line of unusual interstate traffic into Joy under the cover of darkness. South Coast Labor Council Secretary Arthur Rorris says there are concerns the company may be recruiting strikebreakers from Victoria and Tasmania. The company has not yet commented on the allegation.

Meanwhile in South Africa where Harnischfeger/Joy has significant interests, the annual conference of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) recently passed a resolution of solidarity with the Moss Vale workers. NUMSA is seeking to increase international pressure on the American multi-national; this could see the International Metalworkers' Federation (Geneva) acting on its June 26 threat to launch an international campaign against Joy.

There is a bitter irony in all of this. For years attempts have been made by a succession of Joy managements to convince Moss Vale workers that Joy is essentially an independent Australian outfit, with the Moss Vale operation part of the local community.

The current dispute has exposed the lie and been a steep learning curve for many on the picket line about the realities of life in the deregulated world of turbo-capitalism.

This learning curve and the sense of betrayal that goes with it, is yet another element fuelling the firm resolve of the Moss Vale picket line.

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Issue 70 contents

Interview: New Internationalism
In its battle with Rio Tinto the CFMEU has pioneered global campaigning. National Secretary John Maitland talks to Workers Online about globalisation, a union response and using new technologies to organise .

History: Pickets and Police
S11 protestors would do well to be wary. Fred Paterson, CPA member of the Qld Parliament, was bashed by the Queensland police on St Patrick's Day 1948, when a Labor Government was in power in that state.

Education: The WEF -Why Should We Care?
An event like the World Economic Forum attracts all the spin doctors for every interest, often obscuring real issues. For educators the issues may seem remote but a closer look shows that services like public education could be dramatically affected by the unfolding agenda of global trade liberalisation says Rob Durbridge.

Economics: A Vandalised Economy
Since New Zealand was opened up to the forces of globalisation, it has performed dismally, both economically and socially. NZCTU Economist Peter Conway reports.

Unions: Our Vital Role in Society
Eight months into his new role as ACTU Secretary Greg Combet reflects on the challenges facing Australian unions.

International: Turning Up The Heat
John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO says the union movement can and will reform the global economy, for as Dr Martin Luther King taught us, the moral arc of history is long but it bends towards justice.

Satire: Threat to withhold pocket money derails S11 protest
MELBOURNE, Tuesday: Members of the activist collective S11 announced today that they had decided to cancel their protest at the upcoming World Economic Forum meeting at Crown Casino.

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