TWU truck ban wins pay rises

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE -- Nearly 20 transport companies in Queensland have agreed to pay wage increases of 11%, in the face of nationwide black bans by the Transport Workers Union on employers who refuse to pay up.

The TWU announced the ban, beginning on June 13, after an application by the union for the increase to be incorporated into the national award was refused in the federal Industrial Relations Commission last month.

Union members employed in the nation's 50 largest companies, who have already received the rise, will refuse to load or unload trucks belonging to the smaller firms, which have opposed the IRC application.

The major employers supported the union proposal in the IRC, but NatRoad -- representing the smaller bosses -- hailed the decision as a victory over the “big players”. The federal government also opposed the union's application.

NatRoad executive director David Cribb said on June 10 that the union's bans were a “clear case of harassment”, and that employers would take legal action.

However, TWU state secretary Hughie Williams said the union was acting in accordance with the Workplace Relations Act. “Our advice is that we are on sturdy legal ground. We're getting all the scoundrels into line and belting them into shape”, he said.

Williams added that after small companies were forced into paying the 11%, the union would immediately push for a further 10% increase for 1997-98.

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