Win for strikers in Burrup dispute

July 23, 2003
Issue 

BY ANTHONY BENBOW

DAMPIER, WA — A dispute that began with a company's arrogance towards a team of cleaners led to a week-long strike — and victory — for workers at Woodside's construction site on the Burrup Peninsula, near Dampier in Western Australia's north-west. The entire 1700-strong work force — members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Australian Workers Union and the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) — took part.

The dispute began on July 9 when a team of cleaners employed by Brambles Monadelphous Joint Venture, one of the site contractors, walked off the job in protest at BMJV's refusal to negotiate over minor changes to work arrangements. On July 10, union organisers met with BMJV and arranged a meeting between company representatives and the cleaners for July 11.

The head contractor on site, Kellogg Joint Venture (KJV), agreed to stand down the site's entire work force on paid time until the July 11 meeting. This was to prevent any health issues arising from unclean toilets.

However, on July 11 BMJV announced it had moved the meeting with the cleaners back to July 14 and went to the Industrial Relations Commission to seek a return-to-work order for the cleaning team. The commission declined to issue a binding order, but "strongly recommended" that the cleaners end their stoppage.

The cleaners held firm, insisting they would only return to work after the promised meeting. In the meantime, the paid stand-down remained in place over the weekend of July 12-13.

The final straw occurred at 6.30am on July 14, when workers arriving at the site were told by management that cleaning had taken place over the weekend. The workers demanded to know who had done the cleaning, and whether scab labour had been used. Management refused to tell them, and at that point the entire site work force walked out.

At a mass meeting on July 16, workers demanded that site management commit to no use of scab labour for the life of the project. KJV refused this demand. The meeting then voted for an immediate week-long strike if scab labour was used again; workers voted to stay out until July 19. The cleaners, having resolved their issues with BMJV, agreed to return to work once the rest of the site went back.

"In the future, these companies will be thinking twice about adopting such a dictatorial attitude", Les McLaughlan, construction organiser with the WA CEPU electrical/engineering division, told Green Left Weekly. McLaughlan, who was on site for much of the dispute, added: "The company's actions were an unprovoked attack on the work force. They took workers to the edge. Those workers were able to withstand the assault and win a victory, and they have come back 100% stronger in confidence as a result."

From Green Left Weekly, July 23, 2003.
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