BY STEPHEN GARVEY
MELBOURNE The 77 workers at the ACI Mould Manufacturing factory in the eastern suburb of Box Hill were locked out of their workplace last week when they received management's latest proposals for the new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).
Prior to the lock-out, the workers had been stood down without pay on May 16.
ACI Packaging, a subsidiary of the US-owned Owens-Illinois corporation, has a reputation for locking out workers for long periods of time and using bully boy tactics against its work force. In the Christmas period of 1999, ACI workers were locked out for a total of 125 days. In this latest instance, the lock-out period will last at least until July 18.
Currently, workers at the factory enjoy a 36-hour work week, incorporating a requirement of three days off every fortnight. According to the log of claims that was released by management on June 17, workers will have to work a five-day week in periods of three-day shifts.
Besides losing a day off work every fortnight, management has indicated that it also wishes to cancel the regulation of the 36-hour week.
According to shop steward Milan Ilic, ACI's proposals have chopped and changed frequently. So, although the 36-hour week has not been attacked directly in the latest log of claims, this does not mean that it will not be as the EBA negotiation process continues.
If the company were to succeed in its attack on the 36-hour week, this would be a major set-back for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's Campaign 2003, which seeks, in part, to standardise the 36-hour week (including a maximum of 11 days per fortnight) across the manufacturing industry. More generally, it would set a precedent for other bosses to follow.
ACI's latest log of claims includes demands for:
The utilisation of contract scab labour as a replacement during cases of long-term absences;
no restrictions on shift transfers;
all employees to provide a medical certificate if they take either a single or multiple days off work;
broader employee representatives on all worksite committees.
Ilic explained to Green Left Weekly that the last point would entail management being able to decide which employees can and cannot run as candidates for worksite committees.
In exchange, the bosses are conceding a 9% pay increase. However, most of the workers are more concerned about protecting their current working conditions.
As well as the lock-out, ACI management is trying to weaken the workers' EBA campaign through direct intimidation. On June 13, plant manager Frank Nieuwhof wrote a warning letter to workers after they picketed an ACI office in Hawthorn, threatening workers with dismissal if they continued to protest in any manner that was considered to be disruptive within the vicinity of ACI's Burwood Road offices.
The lock-out, the threats and the delays in the EBA negotiation process, as well as the constant flux of changing employer demands, are all tactics that are being used to wear down workers financially and psychologically in an attempt to soften them up for the final agreement.
The key to previous worker victories has been through support from other workplaces, unions and the community. People can show their support at the picket, which is at 38 Lexton Street, Box Hill.
From Green Left Weekly, June 25, 2003.
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