BHP workers draw line in the sand The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, January 25th, 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** National and international union organisations are considering action against BHP which could result in a national strike shutting down all of BHP's Australian operations and the disruption of BHP's iron ore exports. This follows the brutal attack by police on peaceful picketers at BHP's Mount Newman and Port Hedland iron ore plants in the Pilbara, in Western Australia. Unionists at BHP's Pilbara iron ore operations were holding a four-day strike in support of their demand that BHP negotiate on a collective basis through their unions and representatives. When workers set up pickets, BHP called in police and private security guards to break the picket lines. In a dawn raid, baton-wielding police charged the mine workers and community supporters, brutally assaulting and injuring a number of picketers. Fifteen unionists were arrested and one Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union official was hospitalised after being hit by a car trying to break through the picket line. ACTU Secretary-elect Greg Combet said the issues were simple, "the majority of BHP employees in the Pilbara iron ore operations want to negotiate a collective agreement, but BHP is refusing to meet and negotiate. BHP is insisting that all employees [there are around 1,000] sign individual staff contracts." Some workers have been approached as many as 12 times to sign up. Union members and their families have been harrassed in mail sent to their homes. BHP is offering large upfront inducements - as much as $60,000 (in the form of paid out sick leave) - to sign the non-union contracts. Some workers have succumbed and signed and were working during the strike. BHP expects to quickly recoup its costs with massive savings and no union presence to protect workers' interests. Solidarity The attack on collective bargaining is not just a matter for BHP employees in the Pilbara. Unions and workers around Australia and internationally are offering support. Thousands of transport, coal, maritime and steel workers around Australia have held 24-hour stoppages at other BHP operations. Construction, mining, energy, maritime, manufacturing, administrative, nursing, education and casino employees took part in a protest action convened by the Trades and Labor Council of Western Australia, outside BHP's head office in Perth. This week the ACTU is considering a simultaneous strike of all BHP's divisions in Australia - coal, steel, iron ore, petroleum and transport. The International Metalworkers' Federation and its affiliates have pledged to give whatever support they can to assist in the fight to retain the basic trade union rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, in line with ILO Conventions Nos 87 and 98 which Australia has ratified and is committed to uphold. "It is clear that the management of BHP, in following the strategy adopted by Rio Tinto, is seeking to completely eliminate any form of collective representation in the iron ore mining sector in Australia, and are intent on preventing, if at all possible, any return of trade unionism in this important sector for the foreseeable future", said the Federation in a letter pledging support to its Australian affiliates - the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), the AMWU and the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU). "Furthermore, if they are successful, it will only be a matter of time before they and other companies seek to take advantage of the anti-union legislation introduced by the extreme right-wing Conservative Government, to undermine the basis of collective representation in another industry or sector. "These attacks on basic human and trade union rights are not isolated incidents, but part of a concerted challenge to the very principle of collective representation and we must not allow them to succeed. "The outcome of the struggle you are undertaking will have significant repercussions far beyond Australia and we applaud your determined stand not to allow hard-won trade union rights to be taken away or undermined. "A victory in one country is a victory for workers everywhere", the letter concluded. The International Metal Federation has called in the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) which covers dockworkers and seafarers, to give assistance. Most of BHP's iron ore is exported to Japan and South Korea which ITF affiliates have the potential to interrupt. Court action The five unions directly involved in the dispute - (the AWU, AMWU, CEPU, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), and the Transport Workers' Union (TWU) - commenced legal action last week against BHP. They have sought orders to: * restrain BHP from offering further individual contracts; * stop BHP offering illegal inducements to pressure employees to stop being members of a union; * restore equity in working arrangements at the Port Hedland and Mount Newman sites; * uphold the right of employees to be a member of a union and to collectively seek an agreement with their employer. BHP is considering legal action against the CFMEU over its industrial action. Rio Tinto tactics In recent times it has been companies like Rio Tinto that have pursued individual contracts, while BHP continued to negotiate collective agreements with the unions. The sudden change in approach is understood to be connected to the newly recruited CEO from the USA, and his aims to make BHP more competitive and profitable. For some time the Japanese and south Korean buyers of iron ore and coal have been forcing the price down. BHP and Rio Tinto, the two major mining companies in Australia, have competed for sales. Last year BHP and Rio Tinto worked on a merger of their iron ore operations in the West, to put them on a stronger basis when negotiating with the Japanese and south Koreans. The joint venture looked set to go ahead when media reports said it was off. But is it off, or just on hold? This is another factor behind BHP's action. Is BHP trying to sort out its workforce, put them on a similar footing to Rio Tinto's largely non-union and then go ahead with the joint venture? CPA General Secretary Peter Symon, asked to comment by "The Guardian" said that both companies want to achieve "competitiveness and profitability" at the expense of the workers in their mines. "While some are being offered financial inducements to sign individual contracts they are also expected to leave their unions. Others will lose their jobs altogether. "It is only a matter of time before the individual contracts are revised by BHP. When that happens workers will find themselves without unions to back them up and help them fight for the rights and conditions that they are signing away. "The CPA supports the struggle of the unions and we welcome the support coming from international trade union bodies. It's a great development and could become a decisive factor in beating back BHP's attack", he said. "Within Australia, the same sort of solidarity as came to the support of the Maritime Union of Australia needs to be repeated for the mining unions. "With Australia-wide solidarity and international support BHP can be forced to give up its anti-worker and anti-union campaign. Their defeat will also be a big defeat for the drive to spread individual work contracts", concluded Peter Symon. ****************************************************************** Beware individual contracts When I signed my workplace agreement with Hamersley Iron, I thought I didn't need a union. I was paid a shift allowance that covered night shifts, weekends worked and call-outs. With no consultation this allowance was changed and then six weeks later so was the maintenance shift on which I worked. Now I receive no payment for the 26 night shifts I work; I have to work 50 per cent more weekends; plus I work two hours more a week. This nine extra weekends and 2.5 extra weeks earns me about $1,500 gross. There is a "fair treatment system" to discuss/eliminate any feelings of mistreatment that an employee may have, and I've been waiting more than 178 months for an answer to my case. In general, my conditions have deteriorated, while Hamersley Iron's profits have been record-breaking! ************************* John Slattery, crane driver, Hamersley Iron, Dampier -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: BHP WORKERS DRAW LINE IN THE SAND
Communist Party of Australia Mon, 24 Jan 2000 20:33:43 +1100