Tasmanian pulp workers dig in

April 29, 1992
Issue 

By Ian Jamieson

BURNIE - Vicious and intimidatory moves by Tasmania's largest employer, Associated Pulp and Paper Mills (APPM), have set the stage for what looks like a long and bitter struggle for union rights and workers' dignity. APPM is continuing to pursue industrial tactics pioneered by its parent company, North Broken Hill/Peko in the long dispute at Robe River in Western Australia.

In the interests of its balance sheet, APPM has renounced most over-award agreements, and since April 2 has attempted to impose a draconian regime in its paper mill here. As a result, this normally quiet and conservative town is being shaken by protests as the workers and their families face harassment on and off the job. The local economy relies heavily on the mill.

Unionists face daily threats of sackings and arrests, and must confront hired security thugs and guard dogs. They have been photographed and filmed by management and treated contemptuously by company staff.

On the job, APPM's strategy is steadily unfolding as contractors move into increasing numbers of jobs, untrained and partly trained staff take over other jobs, newspapers are banned on site, supervision is tightened, overtime penalty rates are restricted and the company introduces what it calls increased flexibility.

APPM has made it clear this is only the beginning. Refusing to negotiate, it enforces its unilaterally adopted conditions with security guards posted throughout the plant. Access to unions on site has been severely curtailed, and some workers have been threatened with dismissal if they attend stop-work meetings.

Safety has been jeopardised by the use of inadequately trained staff to run boilers, though 11 boiler attendants have been reinstated after being sacked earlier in the dispute.

Over Easter, attention focussed on the waterfront, where the ship Anthos berthed with a load of partly finished paper from the USA. It was clear the company had planned months ahead to use the shipment in the event of industrial trouble. The 6200 tonnes of imported paper make a mockery of company claims that is committed to improving paper production in Tasmania. The paper was eventually unloaded, but not before protests made it clear the company has angered almost the whole of the local community. More imported shipments are expected.

As about 30 security thugs with dogs and a large number of police patrolled the waterfront, community leaders asked why such measures were thought necessary, who had ordered them and who was footing the bill. Before Easter, protests on the wharves, which are run not by APPM but by a public authority, resulted in arrests of eight union officials on trespassing charges.

Community support for the workers is strong, and up to 2000 people have attended rallies in a small community horrified by Many women are active in a hastily formed Support the Pulp Employees Committee (SPEC). Many local businesses are also supporting the workers, as they would be hit hard by plans to retrench up to a third of the mill's 1100 workers, at a cost of around $12 million yearly to the local economy.

Labor and Green Independent politicians have condemned the company's jackboot tactics and called on the Groom Liberal government to intervene in the dispute. Premier Groom has in fact attempted to open negotiations, only to be told by the company not to interfere with its "right to manage".

The dispute exacerbated divisions in the Liberal Party when state president Eric Abetz addressed the H.R. Nichols society extolling Tasmania as a "social laboratory" for a New Right offensive against unionism and welcoming moves to abolish leave loadings, penalty rates and state industrial relations commissions.

Unionists are concerned that the Groom government may have had a broader agenda in introducing the recent Police Offences Amendment Bill (see article this page), allegedly for use against conservation protesters in the Picton forest dispute.

The focus of the dispute has now shifted to the federal Industrial Relations Commission, where unions have moved for ratification of all previous agreements with the company. The aim is to freeze the company's attempt to renounce all agreements made before April 2, though management has already said it will not accept an unfavourable decision.

The dispute was preceded by extensive consultation between APPM and Robe River management, and it is clear the company is sparing no expense in its attempt to turn back the industrial clock 100 years.

The Support the Pulp Employees Committee can be contacted at 59 Main Rd, Wivenhoe Tas 7320, and donations should be sent to Pulp Relief Fund, PO Box 645, Launceston Tas 7250.

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