1.Power Workers Pack Carringbush

On Wednesday 4 February more than 700 ETU Power Industry workers staged a mass meeting at Collingwood Town Hall as part of the EBA campaign. Given the privatised power companies didn’t train one single apprentice between 1992 and 2002 and have little regard for the skills of line workers it’s no surprise that the meeting voted to ban work on all commercial construction sites and to virtually ban all overtime as of Tuesday 10 February When Branch Secretary Dean Mighell read out an internal memorandum from the Alinta power company that said ‘a chronic shortage must eventually lead to the use of non-skilled labor (sic) which in turn will lead to increased safety incidents and therefore higher insurances premiums and compliance issues,’ the massive crowd could hardly contain itself.

For ETU men Colin Sutton and Mark Griffiths from Alinta the contents of the memo were not without irony. On Friday 30 January 2004 Alinta General Manager Peter Margarry had told them he took exception to an ETU advertisement in the Herald-Sun that read, ‘privatised power companies were flirting with the safety of workers and Victorian families.’ Margarry had received the Memo a month earlier. He must have a memory problem.

The day before the mass meeting Dean Mighell had called on the Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector to release a confidential report damning the safety of the electrical network. After sitting on the report for nearly two years the OCEI took heed of Dean’s request and quietly released the report. At the same time the employers went into print declaring that the four day week wasn’t viable because there were skill shortages in the industry.’ Say no more.

2. Skilled Buttoned Down

Goodbye to the glass ceiling and the carpet baggers.

On Thursday 15 January ETU Organiser Troy Gray put the finishing touches to an historic Pattern Agreement that brought Godfrey Hirst Carpets and Pilkington Glass in Geelong into line with every other Skilled Engineering worker in Victoria. The agreement was reached after 14 months of negotiation and a campaign that included bans and limitations.

ETU members resoundingly supported the agreement. Although the companies had opposed the inclusion of superior site conditions in the EBA, the ETU eventually won out. The upshot is that members now have a 36-hour week and 13% wage increases over the length of the agreement as well as increases in travel allowances. But crucially all past conditions and workplace practices have been enshrined in the EBA.

Workers will watch with interest the outcome of the Bracks Government’s Labour Hire Arrangements inquiry. Submissions to the inquiry will be collected throughout February. The views of unionists have been gathered by the VTHC and conveyed to the State Government.

Troy Gray says the inquiry ‘can’t come soon enough’. ‘Labor Hire companies such as Skilled Engineering have been a vehicle for the bosses to exploit workers. They prey on an employee’s fear about losing their job. It’s not like the old days when workers were employed by the company. When the boss tells you his company doesn’t employ anyone anymore it is a real shock. Workers have no choice but to front up to a Labour Hire Company that displays no obligation to them. That’s why it was important that we held the line at Smorgons and at Pilkington and Godfrey Hirst,’ says the delighted ETU man.

3. What Price a Life?

Whatever your opinion of David Hookes the cricketer, his politics or that unfortunate ‘hairy backed sheila’ reference to the coloured South African woman who made allegations against Shane Warne, his death was a terrible tragedy. No matter what the courts conclude, Hookes should never have lost his life that night outside a St Kilda hotel. But it’s hard to stomach anti-worker Federal Treasurer Peter Costello using 3AW to propose legislation to deal with negligent hotels while turning a blind eye to the negligence of employers. Without knowing the facts Costello told Neil Mitchell there was some merit in a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ approach to hotel indiscretions. Have you ever heard Costello or his off-sider, Tony Abbott, so readily seek an answer to the injury or death of a worker?

In 2003 twenty-seven workers lost their lives in Victoria, and already four Victorians have died at work in January. As issue 36 of the SafetyNet Journal reports, ‘on 2 January two ambulance officers were killed when their ambulance ran off the road and hit a tree – they had been on their way, “under lights and sirens” to a car accident. The third death occurred at the Inglewood rubbish tip, when a contractor employed by Loddon Council was pinned between the gate of the tip and his truck. And on 7 January a 17-year-old died trapped in the tractor he was operating when it fell backwards into a sludge pit on his family’s farm.’ Although work can be very dangerous for many workers, the moment unions pursue better conditions the Howard Government and the tabloid media label them greedy.

The blight of death in the workplace has led the VTHC to urge all workers to “Speak Up for Health and Safety” in 2004 and use their OHS reps to put an end to unsafe work practices. In a recent survey, ETU members identified safety as one of their biggest concerns, and in its December issue the ETU News recounted how ETU member Pat Mullans went within seconds of potentially losing his life due to someone inadvertently turning the power to live at a shopping centre development in Footscray. In 1999 ETU linesman Jim Kelly was lucky not to lose his life after his arm was caught in a boom. A linesman for thirty-six years, Kelly was suffering fatigue from a week of long shifts when the accident occurred. Despite being on Workcover ever since the accident Kelly was a conspicuous figure at the power workers mass meeting at Collingwood Town Hall.

When the Bendigo Magistrates Court fined Bendigo Mining and one of its mine managers $6500 after the 2001 death of Patrick Stevens, a 19-year-old university student, there was no public mourning on 3AW. We’ll keep an eye out to see if Peter Costello and Neil Mitchell display the same compassion shown for the senseless death of David Hookes when it comes to stopping employers putting the lives of workers at risk.

4. Death in Colombia

ETU Organsers David Mier and Paul Coffey travelled to Colombia in October 2003 to meet union officials. On Wednesday January 28 2004 Dave received the following news.

‘Ricardo Varragan left his house on Friday 17 January to drive to a soccer game with his mates. The soccer game was between company teams. On the way there on the south eastern freeway 2 high powered cars pulled along side his and Ricardo’s car and he was shot 5 times in the head. One of the alleged assassins was captured by police but escaped when they arrived at the police station. As yet no one has been charged with this crime. Ricardo was active in the union movement around Cali and was a member of SINTRAEMCALI (The Municipal Workers Union of Cali), who are resisting the privatisation of the local councils’.

Says Dave: This is yet another of the abuses and crimes against humanity being perpetrated against trade unionists and social activists in Colombia.

A detailed account of the ETU delegation’s journey will appear in the April Edition of the ETU NEWS.

5.Posties Picket Sunshine

After what CEPU Postal Division State Secretary Joan Doyle describes as ‘Australia Post’s attempt to employ postal workers at Ardeer under conditions that dramatically undermine the existing EBA’, a 24-hour picket line was established at 133 Fairburn Rd North Sunshine on Friday 23 January. Although the company granted a number of concessions following a 3½ hour meeting with Victorian Branch Secretary Joan Doyle and union representatives on Wednesday 21 January, there were enough outstanding issues for the union to take protected action.

According to the union the Australia Post offer would have meant a cut to penalty rates, the imposition of second rate facilities, the casualisation of work and the maintenance of a draconian staff monitoring regime. Stay tuned.

6. A Sad Goodbye

It would be fair to say that former VTHC secretary John Halfpenny was a master at exposing the contradictions in the enemy’s propaganda. It was a skill that made him one of the most formidable union leaders of his time. Sadly, John lost his battle with ill health in late 2003 at 68-years-of-age.

At 3pm on Thursday 26 February John’s life will be celebrated in the New Council Chambers at the Victorian Trades Hall Council after which time comrades will rally for drinks in the Old Ballroom. The ETU would like to see all his comrades and fellow travellers at the THC to celebrate an inspiring life

7. Discounted Mobile Accessories

If you produce your ETU membership card at the Telstra shops at Carlton and Richmond you’ll get a 10% discount on all products (other than mobile phones and mobile plans). This includes car kits, fax machines, Blue tooth headsets, accessories etc.

Any member that enters into a mobile contract at either the Carlton or Richmond stores will receive a free mobile accessory pack consisting of a portable handsfree, leather case and in car charger. (Rec retail $49.95)

The stores atre located at;

127 Bridge Road Richmond Vic 3121

223 Lygon Street Carlton Vic 3053

Contact John Sullivan on 03 9427 0779 if you require further details.

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