BY LIAM MITCHELL
SYDNEY The
15th week of the strike at Dayson's air-conditioning compressor reconditioning
plant saw a dramatic shift in the company's attitude after having been
forced into negotiations with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union
(AMWU). The company has suspended negotiations by taking the union to court.
Dayson's parent company, the US-owned Trane, has also threatened to close the Rydalmere plant and has started a feasibility study into reprocessing compressors overseas.
Eleven workers employed at the plant have been on strike since May, after the company sacked seven workers, including the two union delegates. Dayson workers had been seeking an enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) for 18 months. The strike has involved regular community blockades of the Rydalmere plant and Trane's offices in Ryde.
Striking workers had suspended community blockades after a successful action at Trane helped to force management to the negotiating table. At the second negotiating meeting, however, management representatives announced that the workers had not acted in good faith and they would be taking legal action against the union and the Greens, who had organised a picket at Rydalmere.
Workers had originally been told that management would negotiate an EBA with the union, although the AMWU would not be a signatory to the agreement. Management insisted the workers return to work, although the workers decided they would stay on strike, but suspend any blockading of company premises.
The union met with management on September 2. Two days later, Trane had launched legal action against the AMWU and the Greens. Both were charged with obstruction of business and loss of earnings.
The evidence produced was an item on the AMWU web site and an article in the Parramatta Advertiser, which quoted from workers at the picket site discussing how people were holding up during such a long dispute and interviewed Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.
The AMWU web site article contained a statement from AMWU state secretary Paul Bastian criticising Trane for not [being] prepared to abide by Australian standards.
Trane has commenced a feasibility study into the future of Dayson for
remanufacturing compressors in Australia, possibly moving its operation
to Singapore or another country.<|> From Green Left Weekly, September 11, 2002.
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