By Casey Neill
Workers at Fletcher Insulation in Dandenong have notched up more than a month on strike.
Australian Workers’ Union’s Victorian secretary Ben Davis said they were offered an enterprise agreement (EA) that would slash conditions, raise serious safety concerns and offer no pay rises for the next four years.
“Production was up 20 per cent in the last quarter of last year, and yet only weeks later these workers are told they are not worth a pay rise for four years, and the conditions under which they have worked for so long will be done away with,” he said.
“It is unfair, it is illogical and it is impossible not to arrive at the conclusion this is an ideological battle.”
Formal employment agreement negotiations for workers at the Dandenong glasswool plant started on 15 August last year.
“Many of the 90 workers have been employed at the same site for more than 30 years, dating back to the days when it was ACI Glass,” Mr Davis said.
“In the years since it was taken over by New Zealand-based Fletcher, it was business as usual until the latest EA negotiations.
“The Fletcher wishlist includes increasing working hours from the glass industry standard of 35 hours a week, and completely removing minimum manning levels from the agreement, which is a serious safety issue.
“There are other matters such as the unlimited use of casual workers, which raises concerns about job security, and drastically reduced provisions in the event of redundancy.”
Mr Davis said the AWU had “met a brick wall”.
“Negotiations are about give and take, but in this case Fletcher is only interesting in taking,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Fletcher Insulation said the company would like to continue to have constructive discussions with the AWU and was committed to developing a new employment agreement in good faith.
She said the primary concern remained protecting Australian manufacturing jobs by ensuring Fletcher was reliable, flexible and fair.
Fletcher Insulation is 18 months into a market-building, productivity and efficiency improvement program to strengthen the business that will enable a long and sustainable future for the plant, the spokeswoman said.
Fletcher Insulation general manager Justin Hollis said finalising the EA was important to customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and the wider Australian community.
“We want to protect Australian manufacturing jobs by ensuring we are reliable, flexible and fair so we promote a sustainable Dandenong plant,” he said.
