Power station says strikers cannot return to work

Twelve emergency services officers (ESOs) who work at the Hazelwood power station suspended a 12-week-long strike at Hazelwood Power Station on June 26. However, their employer, contractor Diamond Protection, has refused to allow the workers to return to work.

The federal government's new Fair Work Act includes a temporary cancellation of enterprise bargaining periods, including strike action, from July 1.

A leaflet from the workers' union, the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), explained: "The period of cancellation is to allow the new Fair Work bureaucracy to ratify the original ballot or vote taken [for industrial action] … under the old laws."

A scab workforce remains in place doing the jobs of the ESOs. While Diamond Protection has not officially declared a lockout (it could not do this while the bargaining period was cancelled), it has sent the workers a letter telling them their services are not required.

CFMEU organiser Dave Kerin told Green Left Weekly, "Diamond Protection have said no work, no pay".

Kerin said that any workers at Hazelwood who deem work unsafe could now take sanctioned industrial action, including if the scab ESOs are deemed too inexperienced. This follows an agreement between the union and Hazelwood management on June 26. Hazelwood also agreed to a comprehensive workplace safety audit.

The striking ESOs demanded a 37% pay rise to bring their pay up to the same level as ESOs who work at other power stations in the Latrobe Valley. Kerin said the union will call for supporters to mobilise in support of the ESOs if progress is not made soon.

From GLW issue 801