SA workers fight back
by Bob Briton Over 7000 workers could be involved in a campaign of random strikes unless General Motors Holden (GMH) does something to restart deadlocked negotiations around a new enterprise bargaining agreement. Last Friday's Adelaide stopwork meeting recommended nationwide industrial action unless there is a positive response within two weeks by which time the current agreement will have expired. John Camillo of the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) highlighted the difficulties workers have had in dealing with the vehicle manufacturer. The company wants "flexible" work arrangements, rostering of programmed days off and cutting Christmas holidays. The company is also holding back over an ambit claim for an eight per cent annual increase in pay. Unlike Ford, which has granted workers a five per cent a year increase over the three years of the their new agreement, GMH has not even discussed the pay claim with the AMWU. Mitsubishi workers are also reported to be about to finalise an agreement with management leaving the highly profitable, market leader GMH, out of step. Local media have chimed in with the bosses' line that the dispute puts in doubt a third shift employing around 300 workers at GMH's Elizabeth plant from next March. Workers at Electrolux home products are also fighting for a new collective agreement. They are seeking the protection of their entitlements under an industry-wide trust fund called Manusafe. Management is resisting a union proposal that the equivalent of 1.5 per cent of the workers' pay be put in the trust as part payment for what would become a transportable fund for long service leave and severance pay. Jim Watson of the AMWU told "The Guardian" that employers are claiming that the writing of the cheque to the fund for these purposes could force them to the wall. If nothing else, this calls into question their current arrangements for such eventualities and raises the point as to what is being done at present with workers' entitlement money. Workers went on strike last Thursday and were not due to return until Monday morning, this week. Stopwork meetings of workers at Monroe Australia, Walker Australia, Schefenacker and Hendersons Automotive will decide whether to take action over a 16 percent pay claim and other demands for the three years of a new agreement with the companies. The companies have responded with a proposed 12 percent (or four percent per annum) increase over the three-year period. This figure falls short of even the officially projected CPI increase of six per cent for this year alone. Workers at the Osborne-based Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) have also walked off the job after a stopwork meeting last Thursday. The walkout was in response to comments made in a letter by Corporation's managing director, Hans Ohff, that the workers' campaign for an eight percent pay increase over two years would jeopardise maintenance contracts which might otherwise go to WA. "They want to get themselves out of a job...The company can't work on that basis, and it will shut down its activity on the shop floor and continue in WA — it's as simple as that", he said. Ohff threatened that 80 workers would lose their jobs. So far ASC has only offered six per cent over two years and Mr Ohff was reported in "The Advertiser" of July 27 as saying that he believed that the workers should actually have a pay cut. Trains in Adelaide stopped running on Thursday as the workers and management of TransAdelaide met to discuss a number of claims. They included a 15 percent pay increase over three years and the need for an undertaking on pay and entitlements should the metropolitan train system be sold to private interests. TransAdelaide has refused to budge from its 12 percent pay offer and thus put train services in doubt in Adelaide this week. Ray Hancox Secretary of the Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union said that TransAdelaide had refused to make any guarantees about the security of workers' pay and entitlements.