On the question of strike action at BlueScope the call was to “ramp it up!”
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And that’s what the steelworkers meeting outside the gates at Port Kembla did – though they stopped short of a full-scale walkout.
Instead they decided that each section would take a total of 12 hours’ strike action over the next fortnight, starting from Monday.
The pattern of strike action would be up to each individual department.
The more than 500 steelworkers at the meeting were not happy with the company’s latest pay offer, voting it down unanimously.
Some workers wanted to go further, with calls for a plant-wide overtime ban or even a 24-hour walkout.
Workers had been taking rolling stoppages since late last year and Australian Workers Union NSW Senior Vice President Paul Farrow told the meeting that BlueScope had been feeling the pain of the action.
“No-one can say the action hasn’t had an effect,” he said.
“It has crippled BlueScope.”
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union official Gavin Bubb said the negotiations with BlueScope have been “an absolute debacle”.
He felt the company offer “still stinks”.
“There’s something left in this company, they’re foxing you,” Mr Bubb told the large crowd of steelworkers outside the gates.
“They’re not being brutally honest, they’re playing you.”
Negotiations for a new enterprise agreement have been going on for almost a year.
The deal is the first since steelworkers gave up conditions and accepted a pay freeze during the 2015 steel crisis.
Workers first rejected the company’s pay offer, which included them in a profit share plan in lieu of a full pay rise.
A stoush over superannuation followed, with workers claiming the company wanted to change the way it was calculated to their detriment.
The company has denied this is the intention.
Mr Farrow described this change to superannuation as “the kicker that got thrown in at the 11th hour” in the negotiations.
“BlueScope have now stated that there’s a massive string attached to this deal,” he told the meeting.
“That is, that you must now accept the new superannuation clause in the enterprise agreement.”
Mr Farrow said the cuts to conditions in 2015 have cast a shadow over the current negotiations.
”People are looking at the sacrifices they made in 2015 and the very quick return to profitability and their sacrifices were a key element of that,” he said.
“I think that would give rise to the feeling that now’s the time to get a little bit back in return.”
A BlueScope spokesperson said while “disappointed our employees have voted to go on strike, we recognise their right to take Protected Industrial Action”.
“However, we think the best way forward is to continue discussions to resolve the issues, as opposed to strike action which disrupts our customers and undermines our competitive position and future.
“We believe we have an attractive, fair and sustainable offer on the table, which includes a package of pay rises and the opportunity to join BlueScope’s Profit Share Plan – which means our workers get to share in the success of the company without jeopardising our future.
“We will continue to work closely with our employees and their union representatives to resolve the matter as soon as possible.”