By Geoff Payne
NEWCASTLE — Workers took strike action at nearly all of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company's steel manufacturing or processing centres last week.
The unions' log of claims was endorsed by the membership in December. The claim is for a 6% wage increase from the time of the agreement, two 4% wage increases over the two-year life of the agreement, a profit sharing scheme and access by wages employees to the company's staff employees health scheme.
BHP responded by offering continuation of a modified Productivity Related Performance Scheme (PRPS) which it claimed would be capable of paying the equivalent of 10% wage increases in the second year.
At meetings prior to the March 29 strike, the company's productivity-based offer was unanimously rejected. In their reports, union officials emphasised the danger of allowing productivity payments to form an increasing part of wages.
In some steel centres in the United States these schemes account for more than half of workers' wages. They are designed for a "continuing improvement" in the invoiced saleable product. So as one target is reached, a new target is set based on the new level. There is supposed to be a direct link between the work effort (no strikes, quality-based attitude, minimise downtime, work hard) and the amount of product being sold to customers (no returns, on time, within specifications).
However, in the quarter just finished, the Newcastle steelworks PRPS payment was zero while the company announced a record figure of 501 tonnes per employee per year.
In Wollongong the fiddle was equally dramatic. The manager of a steel plant told a union organiser that because of a major fire and the consequent loss of production, the PRPS payment would be zero. This was at the beginning of February. By the end of the month the "impossible" productivity targets had been achieved.
For the first time a log of claims has involved all the unionised work force in joint meetings to decide on national strike action. Unions involved are the Federation of Industrial, Manufacturing and Engineering Employees (the primary steel industry union), the metalworkers, the Electrical Trades Union and smaller unions.
Winning this claim in a recession will be difficult. However, BHP sells all the steel that it makes — it has no stockpiles. In fact, there has been a slight improvement in the more profitable Australian market, so BHP would be keen to avoid industrial trouble at this time.
BHP has been able to buy industrial peace in the past because of the regular availability of overtime in a time of declining award wages. With the stopping of national wage increases from the arbitration system unions are being forced to address this situation. A success by major unions in a key industry will show the way forward for others in the new climate of enterprise bargaining.
The workers have unanimously endorsed continuing industrial action. On the day of the strike, a substantial part of the Whyalla workers picketed the main entrance of their works. This involvement needs to be encouraged.
The Sydney mini-mill and the Brisbane rolling mill have to join the campaign to complete the workers' unity. Support has to be built in the downstream factories. The BHP staff work force privately wish the unions every success, because they will get flow-on benefits.
The Newcastle FIMEE mass meeting which endorsed the claim last December also included an amendment for automatic quarterly cost-of-living adjustments in line with price increases. This idea needs to be put in place now, before the next round of inflation destroys purchasing power.
[Geoff Payne works in the Newcastle BHP steelworks.]