BY SIMON MILLAR & CHRIS SLEE
With their enterprise agreement due to expire in September 1999, the Yallourn Energy workforce of 580 began enterprise bargaining negotiations with Yallourn Energy in May 1999. Yallourn Energy, which generates electricity from its plant in Victoria's Latrobe Valley of Victoria, is owned and run by British corporation PowerGen.
The Yallourn workers are represented by five unions. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU)— mining and energy sub-branch is the principal union, covering 70% of the workforce. The Australian Services Union (ASU) covers roughly 22% of the workforce and the remaining 8% is covered by the engineering union (APESMA), the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) metal division and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).
The five unions put forward a joint bargaining position. However, Yallourn Energy responded that the unions would have to agree to seven principles that it was proposing before it would consider the unions' claims.
The company's seven principles, known as the "seven deadly sins", became the basis for its EB 2000 document. They included: the company's right carry out compulsory retrenchments, have total control over shift rosters and the number of casual workers on site; unions would give up their control over structures and staffing levels, the number of contractors and the right to veto new technology; and, union members would be required to do whatever work they have the skills and training for, regardless of union demarcation.
In return for giving up these core conditions Yallourn Energy offered the workers a 12% pay rise. Mass meetings of the Yallourn workforce rejected the company's demands.
After steadfastly refusing to consider the unions' claims, Yallourn Energy applied to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in November 1999 to have the existing enterprise agreement terminated. Under the federal government's Workplace Relations Act, when employers apply to terminate an existing enterprise agreement it is mandatory for the AIRC to terminate unless the unions can prove that it is "contrary to the public interest".
This confirmed the unions' view that Yallourn Energy had no intention of negotiating a fair enterprise agreement and was planning to use the draconian Workplace Relations Act against the workers.
By January 2000 the workers had lost patience with the company for refusing to negotiate. The three militant unions on site — the CFMEU's mining and energy sub-branch, the AMWU and the ETU — all agreed that industrial action was needed to force the company to the negotiating table.
Disagreement over tactics
However, the CFMEU's mining and energy sub-branch and the maintenance unions (the AMWU and the ETU) disagreed over tactics.
The maintenance unions decided to take protected industrial action on January 4. However, the CFMEU argued that this was the worst time to take industrial action as the power station load didn't peak until late January. The CFMEU had also discovered that Yallourn Energy had already bought up significant amounts of power on the privatised electricity market so that it was in a position to lock out the workforce without jeopardising the company's power supply requirements.
On January 4 the maintenance unions applied bans and quickly found themselves locked out. The CFMEU workers refused to do any of the maintenance workers' work and the plant closed down on January 6.
The CFMEU resolved to support the maintenance workers' picket both financially and by rostering attendance at the picket line. The maintenance unions called on the CFMEU to walk off the job but the CFMEU argued that there was no point when the plant was already shut down.
Once blackouts and power restrictions began occurring, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks' Labor government intervened, appointing ex-Labor minister Neil Pope to negotiate a resolution to the dispute. When no agreement was reached the government enacted the Electricity Supply Industry Act to force the workers back to work.
Pope put forward a 13-point plan to resolve the dispute which was agreed to by the ETU and the AMWU. However, the biggest union, the CFMEU mining and energy sub-branch regarded the deal as unacceptable because it would have reduced existing conditions. After the maintenance unions accepted the Pope deal, the CFMEU decided to continue fighting for a better deal.
After the company again rejected the unions' document, the CFMEU decided, in July 2000, to take protected industrial action to force the company to the negotiating table. This was supported by the ASU.
The CFMEU began industrial bans to limit Yallourn Energy's electricity output to 950MW. This action avoided triggering legislation which ensured that the state government would fully compensate privatised electricity companies if industrial action resulted in electricity output being restricted to 550MW but ensured that Yallourn Energy had no surplus power to sell on the highly profitable spot market for electricity. The bans were maintained for seven weeks with CFMEU members going without pay for the whole period.
Leaked documents published by the Melbourne Age in October 2000 revealed Yallourn Energy's plans to sack the entire mine workforce of 262, lock out the entire company workforce, contract out the mine and cut the entire workforce by at least 200.
Snap strike
On November 2, the AIRC terminated the unions' bargaining period so that industrial action was no longer protected from legal action. A mass meeting of CFMEU members in power stations throughout the Latrobe Valley decided unanimously to call a snap 24-hour strike from 7pm that night. While the power plants are all owned by different companies, the workers from other plants realised that Yallourn Energy's plans would be a precedent for all power stations.
Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Leigh Hubbard and the Victorian state secretary of the CFMEU's Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association (FEDFA) division, Jon Van Camp, slandered the Yallourn workers in the media, calling them rebels, rogues and knuckleheads.
With the company beginning legal action against the union and the state government promising to help resolve the dispute fairly, the workers returned to work after four hours. However, the government betrayed the workers and assisted the company in seeking writs totalling $38 million against the union and 15 members.
In the CFMEU state structure, the Latrobe Valley CFMEU mining and energy sub-branch is still part of the CFMEU's FEDFA division. At a mass meeting of the Yallourn workforce on December 14 CFMEU-FEDFA division's state secretary John Van Camp and CFMEU national secretary John Maitland argued that the Latrobe Valley CFMEU mining and energy sub-branch had no choice but to accept the company's EB 2000 document (EB 2000 is identical to the company's original offer in 1999) as arbitration would lead to a worse result.
Union members speaking from the floor rejected this defeatist attitude. CFMEU mining and energy sub-branch secretary Luke Van Der Meulen argued that the company's offer was so bad that arbitration could hardly be any worse.
Maitland implied that workers are hamstrung by the current Workplace Relations Act and should wait for an ALP government to be elected and amend it. Van der Meulen argued that it is unlikely that an ALP government would make significant changes to the act.
Yallourn Energy responded by applying to the AIRC for a secret ballot of its workers.
Despite enormous pressure from the company, the state CFMEU-FEDFA leadership, the ASU and APESMA to accept the company's EB 2000 document, the workers rejected it by 212 votes to 170. The CFMEU mining and energy sub-branch has decided to continue to fight against arbitration.
Union structure
The Yallourn workers will be in a stronger position to fight as, from January 2, the local sub branch will be transferred from the CFMEU's FEDFA division to the CFMEU's mining and energy division and a Victorian CFMEU mining and energy district created.
This change of union structure is important because the local union structure will operate under a new and more democratic set of union rules, with 78% of the union members' funds being retained by the local union body. The change will also mean that the new CFMEU mining and energy district can legally cover all mines, the Newport power station and the oil rigs.
The Latrobe Valley CFMEU membership and leadership have made it clear that they are prepared to fight arbitration but whether they are in a position to defy unjust arbitration will depend on the level of support they receive from the rest of the trade union movement and the community.
The defiant spirit of the local union leaders and the Yallourn workers makes this dispute significant because it is a challenge to the enterprise bargaining system and the draconian nature of the Workplace Relations Act. However, a victorious outcome depends upon the level of support that they get from other unionists and community activists.
The Latrobe Valley CFMEU has already established a jobs and community campaign, organised a public meeting in Melbourne, set up a Melbourne-based support group and addressed several mass meetings of other unions.
Power workers and their supporters have called a rally at 9am on January 18 outside Nauru House, where the AIRC is beginning arbitration hearings on the dispute.
If you wish to be involved in the campaign, contact the Victorian CFMEU mining and energy district's jobs and community campaign on (03)5126 1678 or email us on <cfmeulv@iprimus.net.au>.