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17 December, 2007
Not only did ICEM Thai affiliate Paper and Printing Federation (PPFT) win the reinstatement of Thanet Jhanluechai at SIG Combibloc 11 days ago, it also won assurances from the New Zealand’s Rank Group that contract and agency labour language in the collective agreement will be honoured.
That language reads exactly as the ICEM’s policy on contract labour in collective agreements: the trade union must be consulted prior to any decision to sub-contract work, or hire temporary workers. The language is contained in a 2005 collective pact inside the 420-work Rayong province paper plant, and Rank Group now has agreed to adhere to it.
SIG branch leaders of PPTF
Rank Group purchased SIG Combibloc from its Swiss owners last spring. In readying the mill for sale, the packaging plant’s managing director eliminated 8-hour work days in favour of 12-hour shifts. This cost workers a portion of their pay and of their shift differential pay. The agreement that was struck on 6 December also included the Rank Group’s sacking of the plant’s managing director, an individual blamed by workers for bringing deteriorating work and productivity conditions.
A tightly-held private equity company led by New Zealand’s richest man, Graeme Hart, Rank Group has moved rapidly into the forest products sector since buying, and taking private, Carter Holt Harvey in 2006. Since, it has increased its industry portfolio by buying papers mills and plants throughout the world. The ICEM commends the global trade union support that lead to justice being restored at SIG Combibloc, and particularly salutes New Zealand trade unions Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the National Distribution Union for their lead.
Senior managers from Auckland-based Rank Group came to Rayong in late November and early December to resolve the dispute. This happened after global pressure. They also accepted – and agreed to correct – unfair work rules and other workplace issues that have led to extremely low morale. The ICEM congratulates PPFT and the workers at SIG Local Union for their great victory. Read more on the reinstatement of Thanet Jhanluechai here.