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15 June, 2000AMWU members involved in an industrial dispute with Joy Mining Machinery have been locked out.
AUSTRALIA: The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, affiliated at international level to the IMF, is involved in an industrial dispute with Joy Mining Machinery, situated in Moss Vale, NSW, Australia. Joy Mining Machinery forms part of the Harnischfeger group of companies.
The dispute is over the union's unsuccessful attempts over the last six months to negotiate a new plant-based agreement at Joy. The local management has tried to break away from the plant agreement by imposing four separate agreements on the employees based on the employees' work classification. AMWU members at Joy have been subjected to enormous pressure to sign the new agreements or else face a lockout or closure of the site.
The conduct of this dispute has been premeditated by the company, whose management advised the police three weeks prior to the start of the dispute that they expected trouble and began removing uncompleted work from the site to a local transport yard. When AMWU members set up a peaceful picket outside the plant, management responded not only by issuing them with a letter announcing a three-month lockout but also informing the Social Security office to preclude these workers from social security support. The company also obtained interim injunctions in the Supreme Court against union members and officials.
In a letter of protest to Jeffery Grade, the chairman and CEO of Harnischfeger Industries, in St. Francis, Wisconsin, USA, the IMF states its concern about the tactics being employed by Joy in Australia, saying "we urge the head office to assist in a fair resolution of the dispute." The IMF has informed its affiliates worldwide with members working for Joy Mining Machinery about the situation in Australia, and if there is no satisfactory progress for the AMWU's members, the IMF will have to consider more concerted action against the company.
The dispute is over the union's unsuccessful attempts over the last six months to negotiate a new plant-based agreement at Joy. The local management has tried to break away from the plant agreement by imposing four separate agreements on the employees based on the employees' work classification. AMWU members at Joy have been subjected to enormous pressure to sign the new agreements or else face a lockout or closure of the site.
The conduct of this dispute has been premeditated by the company, whose management advised the police three weeks prior to the start of the dispute that they expected trouble and began removing uncompleted work from the site to a local transport yard. When AMWU members set up a peaceful picket outside the plant, management responded not only by issuing them with a letter announcing a three-month lockout but also informing the Social Security office to preclude these workers from social security support. The company also obtained interim injunctions in the Supreme Court against union members and officials.
In a letter of protest to Jeffery Grade, the chairman and CEO of Harnischfeger Industries, in St. Francis, Wisconsin, USA, the IMF states its concern about the tactics being employed by Joy in Australia, saying "we urge the head office to assist in a fair resolution of the dispute." The IMF has informed its affiliates worldwide with members working for Joy Mining Machinery about the situation in Australia, and if there is no satisfactory progress for the AMWU's members, the IMF will have to consider more concerted action against the company.