No limit to BHP greed
by Anna Pha The ACTU and the five unions representing workers at BHP's iron ore operations in the Pilbara in Western Australia, have decided to fight on following a decision in the Federal Court that BHP's offering of individual contracts was legal. "We strongly believe that the court's initial findings in the BHP Iron Ore matter are flawed and we intend to test them on appeal", said ACTU Secretary Greg Combet. "The resolve of workers in the Pilbara to continue their stand against BHP's divisive individual contracts is only strengthening." In November 1999, BHP set about offering around 1000 iron ore workers individual contracts. After years of recognising the unions, BHP refused to negotiate an agreement with them. More than half the workforce refused to sign the individual contracts, preferring the protection of their union and collective bargaining. In January 2000, the unions, led by the CFMEU, gained an interim injunction in the Federal Court preventing BHP from making further offers of individual contracts. BHP unions took industrial action nationally, across BHP's all divisions, against the individual contracts. The contracts offered pay rises of more than 12 per cent and other benefits not available to workers covered by an enterprise agreement, in return for more "flexible" work arrangements. The unions argued that the offer of individual contracts had unlawfully discriminated against union members and sought to induce workers to leave their union. The Workplace Relations Act purports to protect "freedom of association" i.e. the right to belong to a trade union. The unions have used these provisions on a number of occasions to prevent employers introducing individual contracts. In her decision handed down on January 10, Justice Susan Kenny rejected union claims that laws protecting workers' rights to belong to a union also protect their rights to collective bargaining. The decision, if not overturned, makes it legal for BHP to virtually do what it likes to drive trade unions out, as long as it doesn't directly offer workers inducements or pressure them to leave or not join a union. In effect, she is confirming the intent of Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's legislation: to deny trade unions the right to collectively bargain on behalf of their members — the very reason for their existence. But Justice Kenny does not see it as an inducement to leave the union by removing its right to collectively bargain. Justice Kenny has left the earlier court ban on BHP offering individual contracts in place, pending the appeal. The union appeal against the decision will go to a full bench of the Federal Court. The initial hearing is listed for February 19. Rolling in profits According to media reports BHP is set to announce a whopping $3 billion profit in July this year. It has no trouble paying its chief executive $7.5 million a year. So why has it suddenly turned on the unions and its workforce to extract even more blood for them? BHP claims it is pursuing the individual contracts to improve productivity — meaning increase the exploitation of its iron ore workforce in the Pilbara. The issue arose after negotiations for a merger of iron ore operations in the West with Rio Tinto broke down — the reason given was that BHP's operations were not profitable enough compared with Rio Tinto's de- unionised workforce on individual contracts. The Pilbara is not the only place where BHP is on the move against workers. Illawarra coal miners have just held a five-day strike over wages and working conditions with BHP and are taking further action as "The Guardian" goes to press. Apart from a pay rise, the miners are seeking assurances that BHP will not introduce 12-hour shifts, bring in contract labour at the expense of permanent employees or abolish seniority. At Blackwater in Central Queensland mineworkers are fighting moves by BHP to sack some 200 employees in a regional community already hit hard by unemployment. BHP's greed knows no limits. Having sat back and let Rio Tinto do the front running on individual contracts, BHP has now followed suit, and will not stop at the Pilbara if successful there. Regardless of the outcome of the appeal or any other court cases, Justice Kenny's decision is a reminder that it is time to mount a campaign to repeal the Workplace Relations Act, and to dump the Howard Government.