INS

IDE

Tech workers forced onto 21st century ‘hungry mile’Apprentices join union and win better pay and training

Book giveaway: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

SUMMER 2011

AMWUNEWS2

Free trade won’t deliver the better life we’re fighting for

AMWU News is the official publication of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, (registered AFMEPKIU) National Office, 133 Parramatta Road, Granville, NSW, 2142.

Editor: Dave Oliver

AMWU Communications Team: Tim Chapman, Jennifer Kingwell and Dash Lawrence

Design: dcmc Design, Melbourne

All information included in this publication was correct at the time of publication, but is subject to change at any time. Please contact your union organiser for updates.

© AMWU National Office

Made in Australia by AMWU labour

Dave Oliver's editorial ........................................................................... 3

Scientists test collective strength .......................................................... 4

Paid parental leave ................................................................................. 5

Boom or Bust; we can make a difference ................................................ 6

More pay for apprentices ...................................................................... 8

Modern day workers on hungry mile .................................................... 9

West Gate disaster remembered .......................................................... 10

23 things they don’t tell you about capitalism ..................................... 11

Delegate Profile ................................................................................... 12

AMWUNews

AMWUNEWS 3

SUMMER2011

“Together, as manufacturing

workers, we have stood up and

fought for the value of our industries,

particularly against the free-trade lobby.

EDITORIAL

One of the most important goals we have as AMWU

members is to work for a better society where our economy provides jobs that are high-skilled, well-paid, sustainable and secure.At work, we campaign for better pay and conditions, time off with our families, respect and the right to influence the way our work is done.

Historically, our union’s workplace achievements have often been powerful enough to help change society more broadly.

In the new year, we will see the introduction of 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave for all working families. Last year we also saw the government commit to increase the minimum superannuation contribution to 12% by 2020.

Better protection of employee entitlements is another long-term campaign we have delivered.

Our union can also be proud that we have led the fight to make our economy work for us, and not the other way around.

Together, as manufacturing workers, we have stood up and fought for the value of our industries, particularly against the free-trade lobby.

This will continue to be a key issue for us in 2011 as we are faced with a Korean Free Trade

Agreement, continued negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and work on a trade agreement with China.

Those who push for free trade do not ask why other countries can sometimes make things cheaper. They don’t question whether an overseas product is cheaper because a company cuts corners on their workers’ safety. They don’t ask about pollution or poor environmental standards. They don’t ask questions about human rights, or workers’ rights or the standard of living in those countries. And they don’t ask questions about quality.

Most hypocritically, they demand our government get rid of policies that favour local content in government spending, but refuse to acknowledge that other countries subsidise their manufacturers.

The election of Labor in 2007 brought some balance back into this debate with the government, but even under Labor, we have a tough fight because of the size and influence of the free-trade lobby.

Trade is very important for manufacturing, but fair trade is all the more important.

The campaign for quality, sustainable, well-paid jobs will continue to be a key focus for the AMWU in 2011.

In this edition you will read about the plight of workers in Western Australia and at Caterpillar in Victoria missing out on work despite the resources boom.

We must fight for fair trade and a fair go or we will soon find that we have allowed free-trade theory to export our jobs, export our national interest, export our standard of living and export our future.

We have already argued for government industry policy to exploit opportunities in tackling climate change. We need to get our share of jobs in this $6 trillion industry. We must face up to the challenge of a price on carbon.

We all have a role to play in these campaigns.

Last year we delivered some big achievements and this year we already have our work cut out for us.

We will need every AMWU member to be involved in our campaigns to continue our success.

Dave Oliver

AMWU National Secretary

AMWUNEWS4

NEWS

AMWU members at Omic Australia’s North

Melbourne laboratory are standing their ground in tough negotiations for a union collective agreement. Caroline O’Keefe, a pesticide chemist and AMWU member at Omic, believes the workers are right to stand up for better conditions and standards in their industry.

“A lot of people in the industry are fed up with the conditions we have to work under, and I think that a lot of people are starting to talk more about unions and how joining can help,” she said.

Nonetheless, the workers know the fight won’t be easy.

“Management is really taking a hard line. They just keep presenting us with the same agreement over and over again with no changes, which is just the bits they like from the Award, and they’ve put in other things that are actually worse for us.

“We went on a one day strike, and the company responded by saying that from this point onwards, if we strike again they will lock us out for twice as long.”

Despite Omic’s attempt to quash workers’ determination to win a fair agreement, Ms O’Keefe says her workmates are resolute.

“We are ready to keep fighting. The workers want to know what their options are - like, do we have to keep striking over and over?

“But we do know a lot more about our rights now. A lot of people are now reading the Awards on their own.

AMWU organiser, Dave Vroland, has been supporting the Omic workers through negotiations and says that the workers should be proud.

“Our members at Omic have shown an incredible degree of solidarity and unity,” he said.

“They’re standing up to a profitable employer who would rather pay money to lawyers and threaten employees

with lockouts than negotiate any level of wage increases.

“Given the way that the company is

treating their employees, the members

are absolutely right to stand up for

decent pay and fair conditions.” ■

AMWU members at Megabolt in Victoria

have returned triumphant from protected industrial action, with their first union collective agreement in hand.As reported in the Spring edition of the AMWU News, 25 members stopped work in September after

the company delayed negotiations on an agreement to increase wages beyond the minimum $15 per hour.

Under the new agreement, pay has risen above the minimum wage with an immediate 10% increase, a sign-on bonus and additional 4.5% increases over

the next two years.

AMWU delegate, Zelko Cimboro, said the workers were ecstatic with the new agreement.

“Some of us have been working together for years, but never really spoke to each other, but being on the picket line together, hearing

about each other’s families and interacting with each other every day, it really helped us bond.”

“We got the outcome we wanted and the workers definitely feel stronger now.”

Conditions have also improved significantly.

Casuals with the company for six months or more have been made permanent, monthly RDOs have been introduced, redundancy provisions have been strengthened, an award-aligned classification structure has been introduced and clauses on contractors, health and safety and union rights have been included.

Ale Mulipola, AMWU organiser, credits the win to the workers’ resolve to stick together.

“It was hard, but we’ve achieved a good outcome from this dispute. The most important thing is that the workers are sticking together.” ■

Workers on minimum wage win 19% pay rise

Collective strength tested at Omic science lab

L to R: Caroline O’Keefe, Joanne Baron and Natalie McGinty.

AMWUNEWS 5

NEWS

AMWUNEWS6

NEWS

Julia Gillard with AMWU members at Komatsu in Perth

Sacked workers from Caterpillar’s Tullamarine

operations in Victoria have protested against the company’s decision to move their jobs off shore.Management blamed the cuts on cheaper overseas production as the Australian dollar climbed above parity with the US dollar in November.

AMWU Victorian Secretary, Steve Dargavel, said the decision was extremely disappointing and represented short-term management practice at its worst.

“This is about Caterpillar’s bottom line, pure and simple. They’re no longer interested in maintaining a successful workplace of 40 years.”

Rob Orr, a boilermaker and AMWU member at Caterpillar, said his workmates were frustrated to lose their jobs when the company was

making a profit.

“We’ve got blokes here who don’t want to leave. We’ve got a productive workforce – one that was on track to make 200 truck bodies next year. Why are we being turfed out?” he asked.

Steve Dargavel said workers were fighting for their jobs as well as maintaining manufacturing in Australia.

“We can’t let the mining boom drive up the dollar, kill manufacturing jobs and leave an empty hole in the ground at the end of the boom,” said Mr Dargavel.

During November and December, the AMWU was locked in negotiations with the company to guarantee workers receive full redundancy entitlements when the operation ceases to operate.

The AMWU has called on Caterpillar to redeploy the affected workers elsewhere in the company at the end of their employment. ■

The Barnett Liberal Government will bring

the Western Australian manufacturing sector to its knees, unless changes are made to the state’s local-content policy according to the AMWU.While the state’s mining sector continues to boom, in late

November it was revealed the Barnett Government signed an agreement requiring infrastructure for one of the state’s largest industrial projects to be manufactured in China.

“The Oakajee Port and Rail Project is just the latest in a long line of important contracts the government has failed to deliver

because of its local-content policy,” said AMWU WA Secretary Steve McCartney.

Since 2005 the state’s manufacturing sector has lost a series of multi-million dollar contracts including Citic Pacific, Binningup Desalinisation Plant, Worsley, Gorgon, Pluto and Train 5.

“WA manufacturing workers deserve better than this. They should be benefitting from any economic boom not watching potential jobs sail away.”

According to the union’s latest estimates, over the past five years steel fabricated in WA for resource projects has dropped from approximately 55 000 tonnes to 24 000 tonnes.

While at the same time the steel needed for the same projects has risen from 60 000 to 316 000 tonnes. In some projects local content dropped from 92% down to 8%.

Construction of a multi-billion dollar liquefied gas plant to be stationed off the Kimberley coast was also lost to Asia in November, at the cost of 4 000 jobs to the local manufacturers.

“The Barnett Government should ensure that WA has the kind of mechanisms in place to give our manufacturers a fair crack at projects intended for this state,” said Mr McCartney. ■

WA watches jobs sail away

SINCE 2005 THE STATE’S MANUFACTURING SECTOR HAS LOST A SERIES OF MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACTS INCLUDING CITIC PACIFIC, BINNINGUP DESALINISATION PLANT, WORSLEY, GORGON, PLUTO AND TRAIN 5.

Workers protest as jobs go to Mexico

AMWUNEWS 7

NEWS

Being the world’s quarry is not enoughby Industry Minister, Kim Carr

There has been much misguided speculation

recently about Australia’s mining boom and what it means for the broader national economy and manufacturing.Some have portrayed the mining sector as an insatiable beast whose demand for resources, labour and capital must be fed – whatever the consequences for the rest of the economy.

According to this school of thought, the mining sector is so central to our livelihoods that we should sacrifice everything to it. And the beast, in exchange, will carry the nation into a leaner, meaner future. We’ll rip our scarce capital and labour from the so called ‘inefficient’ industries, and somehow thrive as little more than the world’s quarry.

This all-or-nothing approach is flawed.

Let’s put things in perspective. Mining is 8% of GDP and 1.4% of employment. Manufacturing is 10.2% of GDP and 9.2 % of employment.

Mining is growing fast, but nothing lasts forever, no matter how welcome

it is today. It would be bold and naive to think that the income we currently enjoy from the resources sector will continue unabated. Putting all our eggs into one basket simply doesn’t make sense.

One of the reasons we have weathered the global financial crisis so well is the depth and diversity of our economy. We cannot afford to become so focused on mining – or any one sector – that our economy becomes unbalanced.

Can we really celebrate the concept of a two-speed economy – where some parts of the country are prosperous and other parts are left to wither on the vine?

An equitable, prosperous and just society is based on a diverse economic base where innovation, wealth creation and employment occurs across a broad spectrum and is not concentrated in any single sector.

Now is not the time to abandon the diversity that constitutes the very strength and resilience of the Australian economy.

What we need to do is ensure that not just the mining sector – but all sectors of our economy are in tip top shape.

Contrary to the knockers, this does not mean propping up ‘inefficient’ industries, it does not mean interfering with markets, and it certainly does not mean artificially restricting the free flow of resources within the economy.

But it does involve having a vision of what we want the Australian economy to look like in 10, 20 and 30 years time. And it means taking the necessary, but difficult decisions, to make this happen.

This government has long believed in innovative manufacturing and the inherent value of making things. We cannot fall into the trap of losing our manufacturing skills – because once gone, they are not easily recovered.

Manufacturing is critical to our future. By having a manufacturing sector we avoid simply becoming the world’s quarry, we add value to the resources we mine, we create high-tech and high-wage jobs and we attract the investment in research and development that only comes from having a manufacturing capacity.

Mining and manufacturing are complementary – the ‘either or’

approach does both sectors a

disservice and ignores the complex

and inter-related nature of our modern

economy.

So this is why we are setting about

the process of revitalising and

reinvigorating manufacturing in

Australia.

It is why we have established a

national Enterprise Connect Network

that provides thousands of firms

access to the best advice, technology

and research.

It is why we created Commercialisation

Australia to turn good ideas into viable

commercial products.

It is why we are driving innovation

and renewal in established industries

through the New Car Plan for a Greener

Future; and a retargeted $406 million

Textiles, Clothing and Footwear

package.

The great challenge we face is to make

sure that all sectors are healthy and

productive - contributing to our nation,

providing valuable jobs for Australian

workers and generating national

income that benefits us all. ■

AMWUNEWS8

NEWS

Apprentices join the union and get

more pay

Darren Gane has taken on the role of Apprentice Delegate

“A record number of

apprentices signed up to the AMWU in Queensland and the Northern Territory in 2010. One of the new members is fourth year apprentice boilermaker, Darren Gane.

He and 28 other apprentices work at Rio Tinto’s remote Alcan Gove Alumina Refinery in Nhulunbuy.

“I didn’t really know much about the union. My father had been a member for a long time. But I didn’t give it much thought until we started having issues with our employer.

“Us apprentices were getting paid below the national award. We weren’t receiving sufficient trade training. The boys were all pretty down,” said Darren.

After joining the union, the apprentices elected a union delegate

and put their concerns to the employer with the support of the trades workers on site. They are now up to $80 per week better off and receiving training in more competencies of their trade.

Workplace membership has since grown to around 80% density.

In the first week of November, the Queensland/Northern Territory branch clocked up it’s 1001st apprentice, a figure that’s delighted Northern Territory organiser Bryan Wilkins.

“This is a great result. We’ve worked really hard to get the message out that apprentices are much better off being in the union.”

Darren Gane credits Bryan Wilkins and workplace delegate Brian Russell with the growth in members at his workplace.

“Both the Brians have been really supportive. If we’ve ever got questions or problems we know where to go. I’d

say they’ve empowered the lot of us.”

In April of last year, Darren attended the Queensland/Northern Territory Apprentice Conference in Brisbane, and has taken on the role of apprentice delegate.

It’s a badge he wears with pride.

“Being a delegate has been great. I’ve gained lots of new skills. I’ve learnt how to negotiate with management and how to help lead the other members.” ■

“Being a delegate has been great. I’ve

gained lots of new skills. I’ve learnt how

to negotiate with management and

how to help lead the other members.”

Workers at one of Australia’s oldest

automotive plants have celebrated an injection of 160 jobs and the permanent return of the afternoon shift.

In May 2009, Holden Australia’s Elizabeth factory in South Australia cancelled its afternoon shift and reduced production as domestic and international car sales plummeted in the wake of

the Global Financial Crisis. Increased demand for the Commodore Series II and Cruze has returned confidence to Holden’s production, resulting in new jobs and the re-introduction of the afternoon shift from November 15.

“It’s light at the end of the tunnel for workers who have lived through

difficult times,” says AMWU SA Secretary John Camillo.

“Instead of mass lay-offs, the workers chose to work reduced hours to allow more people to keep

their jobs until the economy picked up again.

“They’ve carried a financial and emotional burden and now they’re being justly rewarded. It’s really pleasing to see.”

During the downtime, a number of workers added to their skills through Certificate IV training programs funded by the State and Federal Governments.

“This is an example of the government, Holden and the AMWU working together for the benefit of the workforce,” Mr Camillo said.

“As a result there’s a lot more confidence here.

“Six months ago people didn’t know whether Holden would still be around. Now they know they have a future.” ■

Workers herald new era at Holden

AMWUNEWS 9

NEWS

Casual workers at a western Sydney

computer assembly site are being told whether they have a job via text message only hours before starting, a way of hiring staff that should have disappeared with the great depression.In November, former and current workers from Foxteq (a company also linked to the notorious iPhone suicides in China) described to Fairfax Media the disgraceful state of employment.

One worker, Tan Cuong Vo, recounted how he was threatened with the sack for taking time off during the birth of his daughter.

“I only took one day off when she was born, I was scared about losing my job,” he said.

The company requires workers to be available on a full-time basis including overtime, everyday and on the weekend.

However, they are only told of their work arrangements day to day, or in some cases hour to hour.

Another former employee, Sokhemara Ngo, agreed the rostering arrangements were untenable.

“You can’t organise your life when you have no idea whether you’re working from one day to the next.”

“This is a vulnerable workforce, mostly new migrants, with few skills or work

opportunities,” said AMWU NSW Secretary, Tim Ayres.

Mr Ayres compared the text-message

roster system to the days when starving workers lined Sydney’s wharves hoping they would be chosen to work that day.

AMWU organiser, George Simon, says the union has asked a major customer of Foxteq, computer giant Hewlett Packard to demand the company lift its game and give the workers secure, stable employment.

“We are exploring all avenues available to us to ensure these substandard working conditions change and workers are offered secure jobs with fair entitlements,” said Mr Simon.

“Some of these workers have been here as casual staff for many years. They should be given permanent status. ■

Aussie tech workers on virtual ‘hungry mile’

Remembering the hungry mile

It’s an iconic image of the Australian union movement

as well as one synonymous with the grim days of the Great Depression. Workers lined along the docks, trying to hide their hunger and sickness from the foremen tasked with picking the biggest, strongest and most compliant men for the day’s work.The hungry mile, named for the length of the queue of hopeful workers and the meagre conditions for which they worked, represents an important part of Australian union history. Along the docklands of Darling Harbour in the 1930s, waterfront workers and seafarers worked up to 24 hour shifts, with no protective clothing and the constant threat of industrial accidents on a daily basis.At the end of their shift, many

would return to a shelter of tin or hessian and a meal prepared from rations in a kerosene tin. There was no guarantee of work the next day - even less so if they were known unionists or dared to speak up about the brutal conditions they worked under. As the shipping companies continued to post profits in the millions, growing anger and refusal to accept these injustices spread along the waterside. Thousands of workers demonstrated against the high levels of unemployment and the exploitative conditions endured by those lucky enough to have work.As well as the turbulent times of the Depression, the hungry mile has been the site of many other union struggles, including boycotts against the loading of Pig Iron to Japan during World War II; solidarity actions with the Indonesion independence

movement against Dutch colonialism; strikes against the Vietnam War and against South African apartheid. Many of the basic working conditions that we take for granted today were hard-fought gains by the hungry mile workers. Union leaders of the time, such as Jim Healy, were instrumental in creating a culture of rank-and-file decision making by unions which formed the basis for modern day union processes.

“And when the world grows

wiser and all men at last are

free when none shall feel the

hunger nor tramp in misery

to beg the right to slave for

bread, the children then may

smile at those strange tales

they tell of what was once

the hungry mile.” ■

WINFor the chance to win one of five, ‘Fighting Films’ 3-DVD sets, produced by the MUA’s Film Unit, click on the Hungry Mile tab on our facebook page www.facebook.com/TheAMWU and tell us why you think it’s important to remember The Hungry Mile.

They tramp there in their legions on the morning dark and cold to beg the right to slave for bread from Sydney’s lords of gold; they toil and sweat in slavery, ‘twould make the devil smile to see the Sydney wharfies tramping down the hungry mile - Ernest Antony, ‘The Hungry Mile’

Tan Cuong Vo

2010 marked the 40th anniversary of the

West Gate Bridge collapse which killed 35 workers in Australia’s most deadly industrial accident.AMWU members were among hundreds of former workers and their families who joined current workers and attended the memorial on Friday October 15.

As the crowd gathered at the foot of the pylon where the disaster occurred, West Gate Memorial Committee spokesperson, Danny Gardiner, said the events of that day had changed many lives.

“Forty years have seemed to have gone in the blink of an eye, for some. But not for the families and loved ones of the men who lost their lives. The pain and the tragedy has been with them ever since.

“As for the workers, and rescue teams who helped save the dying and the injured, it has been a constant in their lives and the bridge is a daily reminder.”

Despite the loss of life, Mr Gardiner said that some good has come from the tragedy.

“If there has been a positive that’s come out of this tragedy, it has been the Occupational Health and Safety legislation since 1970. And some of the ex-bridge activists played a key role in the planning and implementation of these Acts.

“A legacy of the 35 that lost their lives has been safer workplaces.

AMWUNEWS10

NEWS

In the lead up to the Christmas holiday period,

the AMWU won an important case when Fair Work Australia (FWA) rejected an employer’s attempt to deny thousands of manufacturing workers penalty rates on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

The union successfully opposed the Australian Industry Group (AiG )attempt to use confusion surrounding the holidays falling on weekends to claw back extra public holidays from workers.

The AiG used a technicality surrounding the way public holidays were declared in different States and Territories to argue they should all be scrapped, which would have seen all workers receive only three public

holidays over the period.

The AMWU victory meant workers were entitled to be paid penalty rates on all public holidays declared by their State or Territory, which was at least four and up to six days, as the AMWU News went to print in December.

Our union was able to get several State and Territory Governments to declare ‘additional’ public holidays instead of only ‘substitute’ days.

Dave Oliver said that the decision was a common sense outcome in line with modern community standards and family values.

“Every worker who has to work on Christmas day this year would rightly expect to be compensated for being away from their family.”

“The standard is clear in the community’s mind and the FWA decision reflects that reasonable expectation.” ■

AMWU stops employer attempt to steal Christmas

40 yearsWest Gate disaster remembered 40 years on

This bridge is a monument to them all, and a reminder to all workers, that we all must work safe,” he said.

AMWU member, Billy Copeland,

who worked on the bridge that day and is now working there again on the current upgrade, said the occasion was still an emotional one.

“We come every year, and it gets to you. I think it’s a pleasing thing to see so many people here to show respect. It’s a sad day, but it’s always with you,” he said. ■

The scene of the tragedy at the West Gate Bridge October 15, 1970

Current West Gate Bridge workers Ian Edwards and Billy Copeland

AMWUNEWS 11

NEWS

The AMWU has urged federal politicians to adopt a price on

pollution and boost clean energy investment ahead of crucial parliamentary debate in 2011. The call was made by Colleen Gibbs an Environment Project Officer from the AMWU Victoria who joined a coalition of unions, health and environment groups at the Climate Advocacy Day in November. “It was a great opportunity to deliver the message of the union and its members,” she said. “We have done extensive polling of our members in the energy sector. We know the majority of them want to see investment in clean, green energy that can cut emissions and keep jobs.“It was really worthwhile to be able to direct that message to Canberra.” Ms Gibbs, together with representatives from the Climate

and Health Alliance, Climate Project and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition lobbied key parliamentarians throughout the day. The groups met directly with ministers, senators and members of the Federal Government’s climate change roundtables.As the largest union represented

at the Climate Advocacy Day meetings, the AMWU was able to garner attention.“The politicians and decision makers we met could see that the

AMWU are a large and influential union. Many of them acknowledged that through the strength of our numbers, we can make an impact on this debate,” said Ms Gibbs. AMWU TSA Secretary, Mike Nicolaides, said the trip was an initiative of Union Climate Connectors, a program for union members coordinated by the ACTU. “We have had a progressive policy on the environment since the early 90s,” he said. “We believe there is a strong connection between acting on climate change and industry development policy. There are jobs in clean energy. Lots of them. “You can fix the economy and fix the environment at the same time.” ■

AMWU lobbies for clean energy

If you would like to join Union Climate Connectors head to

www.climateconnectors.org or contact Colleen on (03) 9230 5700

Book Review: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About CapitalismProving that ‘the washing machine has changed more lives than the internet’ is no easy task. But South Korean economist, Ha-Joong Chang, mounts a convincing case for why it has and why it matters, in his latest book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism.

Chang, an international specialist in development economics brings his ‘washing machine beats internet’ theory together with 22 others to attack the orthodoxy of neo-liberal economic theory that has hurt so many workers in Australia and around the world.

He takes aim at a blind faith in free-trade and the mantra that the interests of shareholders are more important

than the interests of society.

In doing so, Chang provides a genuinely ground breaking perspective on what was wrong with the developed world’s economies prior to and since the Global Financial Crisis.

Here is an economist who believes in capitalism, but is profoundly sceptical of a free market and a theorist who believes financial markets need to be less efficient, to make us all better off.

His observations on manufacturing are timely and valuable. The decline of manufacturing in developed economies, he writes, is not inevitable. Instead, it should remain an important

part of both the developing and developed world, and not be replaced by knowledge or service economies.

Some of Chang’s theories won’t appeal to every critic of globalisation and neo-liberalism, but even they will be thankful that a new voice has entered the debate.

It’s punchy, sparsely written, with an eye for humour and a belief that economics is something we should all take an interest in.

The AMWU has 50 books to give away to AMWU members who email: news@amwu.asn.au or write in requesting a copy. ■

The AMWU will represent manufacturing workers on two Federal Government bodies set up to tackle Climate Change and Asbestos.

AMWU National President, Paul Bastian, is one of eight advisors appointed to the Asbestos Management Review panel.

“This is a once in a generation opportunity to limit asbestos exposure and work towards the goal of a Safe Asbestos Free Environment in Australia by 2030,” said Mr Bastian.

The Review will look at asbestos awareness and management, including education and public awareness, removal and disposal and mandatory reporting and disclosure of asbestos.

AMWU National Secretary, Dave Oliver, will also sit on the newly formed Federal Climate Change Committee, and will push the union’s view that climate change should be seen as an opportunity to invest in high technology manufacturing, such as renewable energy. ■

The Federal Government has extended GEERS

to protect the redundancy entitlements of workers until it can legislate its ‘Fair Entitlements Guarantee’.The ‘Fair Entitlements Guarantee’ was promised in the election, but is not likely to be passed until the Liberal Party loses control of the Senate on July 1 this year.The extension of GEERS

means workers have the same protection as the promised legislation, (4 weeks per year of service, uncapped) but Dave Oliver said that legislation was still important because it made the protection more secure.

Previously under GEERS, thousands of workers only received a maximum of 16 weeks entitlements, leaving them thousands of dollars out of pocket. ■

AMWU wins concession until Fair Entitlements Guarantee legislatedWorkers get say on climate change and asbestos

Union members spoke to politicians about jobs and climate change.

AMWUNEWS12

AMWU National OfficeLocation: Level 4,133 Parramatta Road, Granville Postal: PO Box 160, Granville, NSW 2142 ....................................................... (02) 8868 15002nd Floor, 251 Queensberry St, Carlton South, VIC 3053 ........................................................ (03) 9230 5700

NSW BranchLocation: Level 1, 133 Parramatta Road, Granville Postal: PO Box 167, Granville, NSW 2142 ..................................................... (02) 9897 4200Albury/Wodonga ........................................... (02) 6024 1099 Newcastle ....................................................... (02) 4954 3215Western Region .............................................. (02) 6337 7162 Wollongong .................................................... (02) 4229 7611

VIC Branch1st Floor, 251 Queensberry St, Carlton South, VIC 3053 ........................................................ (03) 9230 5700 Albury/Wodonga ............................................ (02) 6024 1099

Ballarat ........................................................... (03) 5332 2910 Bendigo .......................................................... (03) 5442 5101 Dandenong ..................................................... (03) 9701 3044 Geelong ..........................................................(03) 5229 9358 Latrobe ........................................................... (03) 5134 3306 Portland ......................................................... (03) 5523 2525 Shepparton .................................................... (03) 5822 2510

QLD BranchLocation: 366 Upper Roma Street, Brisbane Postal: PO Box 13006 George Street, QLD 4003 ........................................................(07) 3236 2550Gladstone ....................................................... (07) 4972 5319 Mackay ...........................................................(07) 4953 0550 Rockhampton ................................................. (07) 4927 1487 Townsville ...................................................... (07) 4771 5960

SA Branch1st Floor 229 Greenhill Road, Dulwich, SA 5065 .........................................................(08) 8366 5800

Whyalla .......................................................... (08) 8645 7115

WA Branch121 Royal Street, East Perth, WA 6004 .........................................................(08) 9223 0800 Bunbury .......................................................... (08) 9721 7933 Henderson....................................................... (08) 9410 1400 Karratha ........................................................... (08) 9185 4078

TAS Branch28 Station Street, Moonah, TAS 7009 .......................................................(03) 6228 7099Devonport ...................................................... (03) 6424 7177

ACT OfficeCanberra .........................................................(02) 6273 2412

NT Office1st Floor, 38 Woods Street, Darwin NT 0800 ...........................................................(08) 8941 1511

www.amwu.org.au email amwu@amwu.asn.au

PROFILE

“ESSENTIALCONTACTS

I started as a delegate about five years ago as the rep for the wire

and coils department, where most people have English as their second language. They needed a voice and I enjoyed helping out.I’m proud of what we’ve achieved as a union here. We’ve got a 15% wage rise over three years in our last agreement, and a good classification structure to give people a career path, which starts this year.

Seeing that we’ve built a solid relationship with management now, based on our strength

in numbers, my main aims are in health and safety. If you’ve got a good structure and good agreement then that’s a key job for a delegate to take on. I’d recommend all delegates get on the safety committee.

I’d also recommend AMWU education. It’s taught me about negotiation skills, about the law and what we can and can’t do in the workplace. The courses are also a very good chance to get to talk to the other delegates. There are usually about 15 delegates on each course. You chat about different things going on and the issues people face at other workplaces. You can share your own

experience and advice on approaching issues.

I think the AMWU courses are essential. They get you more in touch with what the union is all about and the educators are very professional.

The other thing that I’m passionate about and I’d like to see more from our union and from members in general, is buying Australian products. I think everyone should compare the products they buy and choose the Australian one. It’s all about keeping jobs in Australia. We’re all about manufacturing in the AMWU, and even when buying things like boots we should buy Australian. Just one pair can make a big difference if everyone does it. ■

Glenn Brown TGE Energy Services, WA