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ETU takes on anti-union company

Paul Benedek, Brisbane

28 February 2009

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) is locked in dispute with rogue electrical contractor company John Goss, which is pushing a non-union agreement that locks in a four-year wage freeze for apprentices, offers only an 8% pay rise over four years to tradespeople, and tears up the 36-hour working week calendar.

Joe Fiteni, a participant in a picket at the Boggo Road John Goss site, told Green Left Weekly on February 24 that the non-union offer is way under inflation. “The company sent out the non-union agreement to workers on Christmas Eve, with votes having to be back on January 5. The response was 100% “no”. The company sent out the same agreement last week, which was again voted down.”

Fiteni explained that John Goss has work on various sites in Brisbane, including Boggo Road and 400 George Street. “At George Street, there have been rolling stoppages for three weeks”, he said.

“All we are asking for is a decent union agreement, which several other companies have already signed onto”, Fiteni said. “Goss is trying to push the non-union agreement before July, when the new IR laws will force the company to negotiate with the union.”

ETU organiser Keith Mackenzie added that the non-union agreement “strips a lot of award conditions, which members have fought for and been used to, including attacks on the redundancy fund”.

Mackenzie felt Goss’s actions are also a kick in the face for the Rudd government. “Rudd is talking about ‘stimulating the economy’, yet how can workers spend when they are being denied decent pay? It's another example of a company putting profits first.”