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11 December, 2006
ICEM Australian affiliate National Union of Workers (NUW) informed the ICEM that their dispute with French Materials multinational Saint-Gobain is over. Workers in Australia had been on strike at two Saint-Gobain Abrasives Pty. Ltd sites in the Sydney area, Lidcombe and Wetherill Park.
The company backed down from its original agenda, when it refused to negotiate with the NUW, and, instead, wanted to implement a provision of the regressive WorkChoices law to offer individual contracts. Saint-Gobain has now reached an in-principle agreement with the NUW on a new enterprise agreement.
Saint-Gobain had also illegally terminated the jobs of two NUW delegates. The two workers, Jeff Gearin and Tony Seymour, were both reinstated.
The ICEM and its French affiliates pressed senior leaders of the company to step in to get Australian managers to respect freedom of association and collective bargaining. The NUW expressed, in its letter to the ICEM, sincere gratitude for the assistance, including from the French trade unions, CGT Verre Céramique, Fédéchimie CGT-FO and FCE-CFDT.