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20 October, 2008
In Australia, another round of industrial action by iron-ore train drivers of Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) is scheduled this week against Rio Tinto. The strikes are seen as a pivotal test in getting a company to negotiate collective agreements with Australian unions, turn away from the Howard-era individual work agreements.
Some 30 drivers staged a 12-hour strike against Rio’s export-hauling ore lines to the West Australia port of Dampier on 11 October. They will stage successive 12-hour strike actions this week on 22 October and 23 October.
The strike actions are protected activity since CFMEU conducted secret-ballot votes of the drivers. In late 2007, those drivers refused to sign renewal Australian Workplace Agreements – or individual contracts – with the intention of gaining a collective agreement.
Individual work agreements for some 45 drivers expire early next year, and the drivers and CFMEU seek enterprise agreements and fair wage gains. But Rio Tinto has refused to enter negotiations with the union, preferring individual contracts with the locomotive drivers, who are crucial to Rio’s mineral export profits from Australia.
The drivers seek a wage increase of 4.75%, which is the rate of West Australia’s economic growth, and they seek continuation of an A$20,000 bonus when Rio Tinto switches to driver-less trains in 2012. CFMEU West Australia Mining and Energy Secretary Gary Wood said continuing strike actions are likely unless Rio Tinto comes to the bargaining table. As 2009 approaches, more of the company’s 300 train drivers could vote for similar industrial action as their individual agreements expire.
Legislation repealing the individual work agreement portion of John Howard’s WorkChoices law will not take effect until July 2009, meaning companies are not compelled to bargain with unions until then. But that does not prohibit Australian trade unions from taking industrial action, as long as the necessary protocols are followed.
State politicians and others are urging Rio Tinto to begin informal talks with the CFMEU. Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) President Sharan Burrow commented on the industrial actions by stating the company’s refusal to negotiate is directly contrary to ILO Convention 98. “Rio Tinto is saying, ‘You can be a member of the union, but we’re not going to sit down and talk to you collectively.’” She added it is an insult to the drivers to have their future job design and job security decided without collective consultation.
The job actions by train drivers and their union in northwest Australia are necessary pressure tactics in getting an employer to reverse itself from former Prime Minister John Howard’s draconian and company-dominated labour statutes. The ICEM salutes the direct action taken of late by these workers at Rio Tinto’s Hamersly and Pilbara Iron Ore subsidiaries.