Workers defeat employer attempt to use High Court ruling

Four hundred workers in Dandenong, Victoria, have stared down 
an attempt to use the controversial Electrolux decision
(see Guardian, 15-9-04) to dud them of money, conditions and protections.

Truck manufacturer Iveco walked away from the "try on" this week, 
after a mass meeting of union members endorsed claims put under 
the microscope by Industrial Relations Commission senior deputy 
vice president O'Callaghan.

O'Callaghan ruled a week and a half of industrial action at 
Dandenong had not been "protected" because the workers' claims 
did not meet the narrow definition of pertaining to the employer-
employee relationship, laid down by the High Court in its 
Electrolux ruling.

Iveco, part of the giant Fiat Group, used the ruling to demand 
that workers give up income protection, above award payments, and 
the right to be consulted over redundancy, contracting out, or 
labour hire plans.

Also included in three pages of proposed claw-backs were demands 
aimed at weakening union organisation on the site, including 
rescinding right of entry, payroll deduction and trade union 
training provisions.

All the clauses Iveco nominated as "non-compliant" are included 
in other vehicle industry agreements, covering more than 30,000 
Australian workers.

Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union Vehicle Division 
Secretary, Ian Jones, immediately accused the company of a "try-
on".

"A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing and this company 
has as little knowledge about the Electrolux decision as anyone 
in Australia", Mr Jones said. 

"They can't just draw lines through everything that has been 
negotiated in good faith, over the last decade, and blame it on 
Electrolux. It would wipe out every agreement we have got."

In dissenting from the majority High Court decision on Electrolux 
at the time, Justice Kirby warned that his colleagues' ruling 
would have a "chilling effect" on the process of collective 
bargaining.

More than 300 vehicle industry stewards met in Melbourne the week 
before last to plan bargaining strategies. They considered the 
Electrolux judgement and voted, unanimously, not to concede a 
single clause in any of their agreements. 

Iveco withdrew its demands last week.