If the vote to save the steelworks was held now, a union official reckons BlueScope workers would vote no.
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Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) Port Kembla branch secretary Wayne Phillips said this was because of a “bullying attitude by management” at the steelworks.
The claim comes as BlueScope this week served notice it was suing the AWU in the Federal Court over an illegal 24-hour strike at the Spring Hill plant on May 26.
While the papers do not mention how much BlueScope is seeking in “pecuniary penalties”, Mr Phillips believed it could be in the order of $2.4 million.
This was the figure he heard at the time of the strike that BlueScope had lost in sales and production.
Mr Phillips said the workers knew the strike would be illegal but voted for it anyway.
“To me that just shows how angry and upset the workers are,” Mr Phillips said.
“I don’t think management really understands.”
Mr Phillips claims workers’ conditions were still being taken away, management was taking over their jobs, changing their rosters and hiring casuals.
Nine months ago workers voted to accept cuts to conditions and see some job losses in order to keep the steelworks open.
While the final “yes” vote was close, Mr Phillips believes the feelings against the company “have hardened tenfold” and workers would now vote the other way.
“I can tell you if that agreement went up for another vote it would go down almost unanimously,” Mr Phillips said.
“Members would vote it down with no hesitation and that place would shut. That’s how bad the relationship is between the workers and management.
“People would vote to put themselves out of work - I am positive of it.”
Mr Phillips and one other organiser were the only people named in the BlueScope court papers.
“It’s the first time I'm aware of since I’ve been in this organisation that they’ve taken this sort of action,” he said.
Mr Phillips added that, if the Federal Court did fine them the suggested $2.4 million figure, it would bankrupt the Port Kembla branch of the AWU.
“If we go anywhere near the $2.4 million our branch is gone,” he said.
“We can’t survive that.”
But Mr Phillips said he hoped the issue would be resolved before then.
“I hope that commonsense prevails and they sit down and discuss the matter first,” he said.
“At the moment BlueScope won’t talk to us on this sort of stuff.”
BlueScope was contacted but declined to comment as the matter was before the courts.