Tim Doughney, Melbourne
The ugly face of PM Howard's new Australia has been exposed by the actions of Melbourne electrical parts manufacturer Heinemann Electric. The company is refusing to pay its workers for five days that the workers have already worked because of a ban on overtime. Fifty-six workers are affected.
Heinemann Electric has been advised by Freehills, the law firm that drafted Work Choices, that the new laws prohibit the workers from being paid for 38 hours of work because, by banning overtime, they were engaged in industrial action.
The company employs process workers and electrical fitters to produce electrical switchboards. The process workers only receive $16 an hour. The workers are members of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).
Two years ago, the company was bought out by South African multinational Circuit Breaker Industries (CBI). ETU state secretary Dean Mighell, who addressed the picket line outside the plant on September 7, said, "Since ... CBI took control of the plant, workers are subjected to workplace bullying in one of the worst management styles I have ever seen."
"Australian workplaces are degenerating into slave and master relationships, which may well suit these South African owners, but the ETU will not let Australian workers be treated this way", he added.
Heinemann Electric is in dispute with the ETU over a new enterprise bargaining agreement in which the union is seeking wage increases and security for employee entitlements. The company wanted to insert a clause into the agreement that would allow it to average out 152 hours of work over four weeks for each worker.
The workers are familiar with Heinemann's bullying tactics and fear being forced to work 60 hours one week and 20 hours the next so that the company can avoid paying penalty rates for overtime. A secret ballot was held and workers voted to take industrial action, beginning with overtime and testing bans.
The company allowed the workers to work for five days before telling them that they would not be paid for the days that they had worked. Workers responded by going on strike and setting up a picket line on September 5.
Mighell told the picketers: "I've been an official for 18 years. This is one of the worst attacks I've ever seen. This is the ugly face of Howard's laws." ETU shop steward Nalin Nawagamuwagr told Green Left Weekly, "We will never give up, even if it takes another year, we will fight till the end".
The 24-hour picket line outside Heinemann Electric is at the corner Springvale Road and Faigh Street, Mulgrave. Your solidarity is welcome.