AWU Pushes 5pc Rises

The following article about the AWU's push for 5pc pay rises for its members was published in The Australian Financial Review on Friday 27 June, 2008.

A major union is pushing for minimum wage claims of 5 per cent a year at several major listed companies, including a planned strike at a strategic CSR sugar refinery, just as the Queensland cane harvest gathers pace.

The others facing the pay claims by the Australian Workers Union in Victoria include Orica, OneSteel, BlueScope and Blue Circle Cement.

The AWU has given notice of an indefinite stoppage starting tomorrow at a big refinery in Melbourne operated by Refined Sugar Australia, which is 75 per cent owned by CSR with a minority stake held by Mackay Sugar Co-operative.

Lawyers for the sugar company yesterday sought to stop the strike, telling the Australian Industrial Relations Commission that the documentation issued by the union had listed the wrong company as the employer, which meant any strike would be legally unprotected.

But senior deputy president Jenny Acton ruled the union's use of the company name had been an error and would be corrected. She is expected to rule today on the company's application for an order blocking the planned strike.

CSR Spokesman Martin Cole said the company had been in constructive negotiations with employees on a new enterprise agreement, and had made a fair pay offer of 4 per cent a year for three years which compared favorably with other major food manufacturers.

"We don't believe the historic approach of resorting to industrial action is helpful for the company or the employees," he said.

The AIRC had heard that an illegal picket was held at the refinery last week. But Mr Cole said there was no disruption to customers or refining operations and "we would expect that will continue".

The Yarraville refinery typically produces about 300,000 tonnes of sugar a year after the raw material is shipped from Queensland. CSR also has a bigger refinery in Queensland.

Outside the commission, AWU Victorian Secretary Cesar Melhem said that businesses were raising prices to cover the costs such as petrol and interest rates, and his union would seek minimum pay rises of 5 per cent across a range of big industrial companies.

"Workers should have the same entitlement to put the price of their labour up," he said. "Inflation is 4.2 per cent so it's fair and reasonable to seek a 5 per cent minimum."

Mr Melhem said the AWU would conduct a secret ballot on taking industrial action at a chlorine plant in Melbourne's west owned by Orica and would push pay claims of at least 5 per cent at Victorian sites run by BlueScope - including its steel mill at Western Port south of Melbourne - OneSteel and Blue Circle Cement.

Orica spokesman John Fetter said the company had offered annual pay rises of 4.5 per cent a year over three years at the chlorine plant and was involved in ongoing talks.

Mr Melhem said the AWU's Victorian Branch had also struck a three-year pay deal with builder John Holland covering major civil construction, which included over-all pay rises of 14.5 per cent plus an extra $20 a week in superannuation.