Sam Wainwright, Perth
Forty workers employed by Total Corrosion Control (TCC) are being sued for up to $28,600 each for being 15 minutes late for work after a union meeting. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) is being sued for $110,000 plus unspecified damages for aiding and abetting this so-called illegal industrial action.
TCC is participating in the expansion of Alcoa's Pinjarra refinery south of Perth. The union meeting concerned was the result of strike action taken by the workers on July 21 in response to a TCC decision to cut construction rates of pay to its employees (workers on such a project typically receive construction rates of pay that are higher than regular maintenance rates).
The workers voted to strike for four hours on the Friday and not return to work until the following Monday, July 24. The company succeeded in getting an Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) order for a return to work. AMWU delegate Gary Graham told Green Left Weekly that the union complied with the order: "We rang all the guys, had a meeting on Saturday and got nearly all of them back for the weekend."
At 6.30am on July 26, the workers held a meeting in their own time to discuss the issue. Graham said, "The meeting went a little bit over and by the time we went through the turnstiles for the company's pre-start meeting we were about 15 to 20 minutes late". Before they could start work the superviser told them that being late constituted illegal industrial action in breach of the commission's orders and each worker was handed a federal court writ after being read a written statement. "They were clearly looking for something to breach us with, to take us to court over", Graham observed.
To rub salt into the wounds, TCC docked the workers half a day's pay for both July 26 and for being five minutes late after a meeting on July 24. "They've sent us to work both times without telling us they were docking us the four hours", Graham said. "So we've done eight hours work for them for nothing, plus we're being taken to court for $28,600 each."
TCC managing director Terry Iannello claimed in the media that he acted in frustration after being the target of 38 strikes in the last 12 months, which he says cost him more than $1 million. However, not all of these actions were at the Pinjarra site. Furthermore, the stop-work over the construction rates of pay came on top of a whole series of other grievances, including TCC's failure to pay its employees the correct amount for working in high temperatures, an issue the workers won in the IRC.
Graham told GLW, "TCC are going on about 38 strikes, but that just shows what kind of company they are to work for. The strikes came about because we can't fix things unless we take action; they just wouldn't talk to us otherwise."
Unlike the 107 construction workers and CFMEU members employed on the Perth-to-Mandurah railway project who are being sued by the Howard government's union-busting Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), the TCC workers are being sued by their employer. However, everything suggests that this attack on the AMWU and its members has been planned at a much higher level. TCC is being represented by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and, according to a September 13 West Australian report, the ABCC has indicated that it will support TCC in court.
While TCC claims its action is about recouping losses, Graham explained the wider purpose: "I think they're trying to get the union; they want to get rid of the shop stewards. They've said they don't want to deal with our [AMWU] organiser, Will Tracey. I don't know whether it started with the company or CCI, but they're all the same anyway." According to Tracey, ABCC officers have followed him to and from meetings with the workers.
Clearly, the architects of this attack hope that by making an example of the TCC workers they'll scare the rest of the work force into submission. It would be impossible for the average worker to sustain the sort of fines being sought. Graham said, "I owe about $200,000 on my mortgage. If I got fined like that I'd have to sell my house. I've got four young kids at home and I sponsor a child overseas."
However, the TCC workers and their families have resolved to fight the action all the way. Graham said they were in good spirits, adding, "It's put a lot of stress on us, but we have to support each other as a group and get the word out to the public about these laws and how they're being used".
Graham appealed to supporters in Perth to come to the rally on September 28 (see advertisement on page 6), which coincides with the workers' first day in court. "What's happening to us could happen to anyone", he said. "It's a dark day for Australian workers when a company can go down this path."