Mick Bull, Melbourne
A community assembly was set up on August 4 outside the gates of Amcor Flexibles' factory in the northern suburb of Preston to support union delegates and members victimised by the anti-union packaging giant. The workers belong to the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's printing division.
Around 100 workers voted to take strike action at the plant on August 1 and then defied an Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) order to return to work on August 3, which could result in fines under the Howard government's new industrial relations laws. The company has already threatened workers with $22,000 fines.
The strike broke out after workers were subjected to a humiliating process of "scores" to assess their job skills. These "scores" were intended to assist management in their selection of who was to be made redundant. Workers claim that the process was used to weed out union activists.
The union accepted that there needed to be some voluntary redundancies, and some workers had already volunteered to accept redundancy. But Amcor insisted on five forced redundancies, including two union delegates.
Workers at five other Amcor factories in Melbourne also took strike action to support workers at the Preston plant, but they complied with the AIRC's return-to-work order.
The workers at the Preston plant are urging community activists to help out at the community picket line, located at Amcor Flexibles, 29 Bell Street (between Albert St and Chifley Drive), Preston). Solidarity messages should be sent to <contact@unionsolidarity.org>.