Liam Mitchell, Sydney

A recent case of workers being forced to sign AWAs has ended with a victory after a two-and-a-half week campaign by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).

When workers at Masterton Homes were told they would have to sign AWAs, one union member decided to call in the CFMEU. The workers were told by the company that not signing was not an option, and would mean their resignation. Phil Withington decided to take the contract home and check it out. His union said he would be about $7000 per year worse off under the AWA.

Withington, who had worked with the company for 26 years, asked for a meeting with his employer and a union representative. This was refused and he was made redundant along with six others after refusing to sign the AWA. They were told sub-contractors would carry out their work.

The CFMEU responded with a very public campaign. The union held a picket outside the company’s Warwick Farm display village over three weekends, informing prospective customers of the company’s actions and collecting thousands of names on a petition. The union received a lot of community support and many people visited the picket line to help out.

On July 18, Masterton Homes offered Withington his job back under an agreement worked out between the union and the company. CFMEU construction division NSW secretary Andrew Ferguson told Green Left Weekly that the campaign “demonstrated to employers the capacity of workers to organise and draw support from the community”.

From Green Left Weekly, July 27, 2005.
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