—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

 

Australian dockworkers push back attacks on union

SYDNEY — Dockworkers in Brisbane and Sydney voted Nov. 16 to approve an agreement between the Maritime Union of Australia and Hutchinson Ports Australia ending a 103-day dispute over layoffs targeting union members.

Unionists carried out a weeklong strike after Hutchinson sacked 97 of its 224 workers by midnight text messages and emails Aug. 6. “They want to get rid of anyone outspoken” and violate seniority, striker Ray Byrne told the Militant during the stoppage. The strike ended Aug. 13 when an industrial court ordered temporary reinstatement of the sacked workers while negotiations between the union and company took place. The sacked workers were reinstated on the payroll but did not get called to work during the protracted dispute.

Wharfies pitched a protest camp outside Hutchinson’s gates, which won support from many unionists and stayed up until the settlement was reached.

In a victory for the union, Hutchinson agreed to reinstate all workers and to use only voluntary layoffs to reduce the workforce. The 60 workers who have signed up for this package will receive double the payout the company originally offered. The union also won the right of return for those workers who take the layoff. They will be given first preference to be rehired if the port expands.

To the company’s advantage, some full-time workers will convert to casual status without guaranteed hours, and the standard workweek will increase from 30 to 32 hours.

As of Dec. 15 all workers who did not take the layoff had returned to work.

— Joanne Kuniansky

Fight for $15 fast-food workers support Calif. farmworkers

FRESNO, Calif. — A United Farm Workers Christmas party here celebrated gains scored over the recent period. After union protests and testimony by farmworkers, the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board in a September ruling rejected a union decertification election organized and financed by Gerawan Farming, one of the largest growers in the U.S. and a leader of the anti-union campaign.

The UFW has also registered victories for tomato pickers, including contracts covering some 1,500 workers in the San Joaquin Valley and an improved contract at Pacific Triple E.

More than 200 farmworkers, their families and supporters, including a contingent of unionists from the San Francisco Bay Area, attended the festive event. It included traditional dancers from Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico that many farmworkers here hail from.

Responding to a UFW appeal, Bay Area fast-food and Walmart workers fighting for $15 an hour and a union and other unionists rented a van and drove three hours to participate, bringing toys and financial donations.

“Whenever you need the Fight for $15, just call on us,” said Shonda Roberts, a leader of the fight who recently won her job back at Kentucky Fried Chicken after being fired for pro-union activities. “We got your back!”

Petra Riynaga, another leader of the Fight for $15, said farmworkers “are an example that we can learn from in fighting for our rights. Their integrity, culture and traditions made them stronger and made us stronger also.”

Shirley Peña, a member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 at the Bay Area Rapid Transit, and Ben Fields, a Tesoro oil refinery worker and member of United Steelworkers Local 5, brought contributions from their locals.

— Ellen Haywood and Gerardo Sánchez