Stuart Martin, Melbourne
Amid a howl of calls from employers for Victorian Premier Steve Bracks' Labor government to get tough on unions because the state is supposedly heading into industrial chaos, the government has threatened to wage war on electricity unions and state public sector unions.
On February 20, work bans by Australian Services Union (ASU) members on electricity supply companies caused blackouts. The blackouts resulted in the closure of 20 factories in Clayton, factories in Blackburn, and a shopping centre in Dingley. A shopping centre with a medical centre was exempted from the bans.
Also on February 20, printers employed at the Melbourne Age picketed the paper's Tullamarine site in defiance of a court order. Although police were present, they were unable to break up the picket.
The Age's February 22 edition carried an article demanding to know why the government had not provided enough police to break the picket, which cost the owners — the Fairfax company — $2.1 million in lost revenue. The editorial called on the Bracks government to use the police to enforce court orders against both the power workers and the printers.
News Corporation's Herald-Sun joined in the anti-union campaign, especially after the ASU stated that its work bans might affect the Grand Prix.
The Bracks government responded to the media campaign by threatening to use the Essential Services Act against the ASU and the Electrical Trades Union (which is also involved in an industrial campaign). The Essential Services Act gives the state government the legal power to stop industrial action. The industrial action being taken by the ASU and ETU is legal under the federal Workplace Relations Act.
In order to defuse the situation, the ASU suspended the work bans that had caused blackouts. ASU assistant branch secretary Michael Rizzo told the press on February 24 that the union's argument is with the power companies and not the government.
The state government also lashed out at three public sector unions — the Australian Education Union (AEU), the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) and the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU). The three unions are negotiating new enterprise bargaining agreements.
The government claims that the AEU, ANF and CPSU are making "unreasonable" wage claims. The AEU's wage claim is for a 30% increase over three years, and the ANF claim is for 24% over three years. Both claims include a component for parity with teachers and nurses in other states. The CPSU's claim is for a 6% increase per year.
The government has made an identical offer to all three unions — a 2.25% wage increase per year plus a 0.75% wage increase per year in return for productivity trade-offs. The trade-off the government is seeking from the ANF is a reduction in the nurse-patient ratio, and it wants the teachers to give up a week of their annual leave.
Victorian Trades Hall Council responded to Bracks' declaration of war on unions with an emergency executive meeting that declared unanimous support for the state public sector unions and the electricity unions. However, the VTHC hasn't discussed stepping up the pressure on the government with coordinated cross-union protest action.
The VTHC resolution noted that Victorian public sector workers are "not highly paid by national standards". VTHC secretary Leigh Hubbard told a press conference on February 27 that public sector wage growth in Victoria over the past 12 months was only 3.4%, well below the corresponding national increase of 4.8%.
The ASU and the ETU have shifted their work bans away from affecting small businesses and households. Instead, their bans will concentrate on the processing of power-bills, commercial construction sites and capital works. Overtime bans remain in place.
Despite government threats, the CPSU is continuing with its work bans, the ANF will hold its stop-work meeting on March 2, and the AEU and the Catholic school teachers will hold stop-work meetings and a joint rally on March 3.
The government also heeded criticism from the Fairfax press by sending 80 police to the Age site at Tullamarine on the evening of February 27, to prevent a repeat picket by members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. The police harassed workers as they turned up for their shifts and demanded identification from workers before allowing them in.
From Green Left Weekly, March 3, 2004.
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