BHP forced to negotiate

by Marcus Browning

BHP has dropped all legal action against unions as part of a deal to end 
the dispute at BHP's Hastings steel plant in Victoria. Workers had held out 
since May 21 against the combined strike-breaking efforts of BHP and the 
four car companies operating in Australia. The workers faced losing their 
jobs because of BHP's plan to replace them with casual and contract 
labour.

BHP has agreed to a dispute resolution clause which has the intention of 
having the company consult with unions on changes to maintenance work.

The Industrial Relations Commission will now be the arbiter in any 
contracting out of maintenance work. BHP will drop its legal action against 
the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and the Electrical Trades 
Union. This includes contempt of court orders against 12 unionists.

In addition, there is a proposal, backed by the ACTU, BHP and the car 
makers aimed at coming to some form of understanding.

An ACTU statement calls for "a constructive approach which recognises the 
economic imperatives confronting the vehicle industry as well as respecting 
the rights of the workers [who are] concerned about their jobs and 
conditions of employment."

BHP and the car companies colluded in the attack on the striking workers. 
Victoria's Bracks Labor Government put the boot in as well by having the 
state police attack the picket so that truck loads of steel could go 
through.

Car production was on the verge of grinding to a complete halt, mainly due 
to their just-in-time system that allows for only the barest minimum amount 
of parts and material to be kept on hand to save money on storage.

During the dispute GMH used helicopters to fly rolls of steel out of the 
plant while Toyota chartered jumbo jets to bring in steel from Japan.

Behind the dispute is BHP's plan to hive off its steel operations in 
preparation for its withdrawal from steel production. It will focus instead 
on its global exploitation of natural resources through mining, after its 
merger last year with South African mining giant Billiton.

At that time Paul Matters wrote in this paper of the $57 billion merger: "A 
huge transnational corporation has been created which will be the world's 
biggest mining company, the biggest coal producer and the third biggest 
iron ore company."

It was no coincidence that in the lead-up to the merger, workers at 
Australia's biggest steel works, BHP's Port Kembla operation on the NSW 
South Coast, were forced to go out on strike against BHP's attempt to 
contract out 800 maintenance and emergency service jobs.

Settlement of the Hastings dispute was not at all the desired outcome for 
the Howard Government, with Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott 
wishing to grab the opportunity to push the Government's anti-union agenda.

Speaking to a meeting of corporate representatives in Melbourne he 
signalled changes to the Workplace Relations Act, saying the legislation 
was faulty because employers were not making full use of it i.e. the 
draconian measures to completely crush unions that it offers them.

What irked Abbott was that BHP — faced with workers fiercely determined to 
defend their jobs and livelihoods — finally were forced to accept a 
negotiated outcome.