Vol. 64/No.18 May 8, 2000

Unionists in Australia picket machinery plant

BY LINDA HARRIS and RON POULSEN

MOSS VALE, Australia — Workers set up picket lines at Joy Mining Machinery here March 31. Moss Vale is a small town in the midst of the coalfields south of Sydney.

The 70 workers at Joy make heavy mining equipment. They belong to three unions. Most are members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU). There are also members of the Australian Workers' Union and the Electrical Trades Union of Australia.

Workers at Joy have been trying to negotiate an agreement for the past five months, carrying out rolling stoppages to support their claims. Joy demanded separate agreements and separate bargaining periods for each department. The company tried to force a lock out, hired security guards, and started to take out mining equipment parts. Workers responded by calling a meeting and deciding to set up picket lines to prevent the removal of machinery.

On the picket line, Joy shop steward and AMWU member David Turner said that the company's demand for four different agreements with four different expiration dates would weaken unity at the plant as well as workers' ability to take action together. The company "dangled a carrot to the guys in hydraulics, offered them a wage increase, and then went after their conditions," he said.

Workers voted to fight for one agreement to cover everyone in the four different departments with the same conditions across the site. The main work area is the fabrication shop. The warehouse, hydraulics, and gearbox shops are smaller departments.

When the mining machinery plant was built it was centered in the thriving South Coast mining belt. But now many coal mines in the area are closing. A recent government report predicted that up to 40 percent of miners would lose their jobs in the southern coalfields area over the next three years.

Joy is full of rumors about moving its operations to Newcastle to be near the Hunter Valley mining region north of Sydney. Forty-one workers were retrenched [laid off] from the plant last October.

Turner stated that the company was using blackmail tactics, telling workers at a company meeting, "You've got your future in your hands," implying that industrial action might force the plant's closure.

While the company claims that the dispute is over a wage raise, workers on the picket line explain that it's really over conditions and defending the union. "The company wants to take back half of our RDOs [rostered days off] and cut back on the overtime; they're also trying to close the canteen," said Turner. "What they really want is the ability to change the agreement when business demands it."

Joy recently took over Cram, a nonunion hydraulics shop in Wollongong. Now the bosses from Cram are running the Joy plant. "The bottom line is that the company wants an agreement without the union." Turner said.

There has been a lot of support from the local community for the union fight. Collections have been taken at local factories. Two delegates from Joy are heading up to Sydney to pass the hat around. A barbecue on the picket line for families and friends was planned for April 14. The Joy workers are prepared for a long battle and are determined to stay on the picket lines for as long as it takes.

Linda Harris is a member of the Textile, Footwear and Clothing Union of Australia. Ron Poulsen is a member of the Maritime Union of Australia.

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