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15 October, 2001After taking strike action twice in August, 4,300 workers at Australia's biggest carmaker agree to a 17.7 per cent wage hike.
AUSTRALIA: Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors, has agreed to pay a 17.7 per cent wage increase over the next three years and thus end a dispute which saw strike action at the company for the first time in 10 years. The company's car assembly workers, who are earning an average weekly wage of $A631 (US$324) will receive an additional $A111 (US$57) over the life of the agreement.
Workers, who had aimed for a minimum 20 per cent rise in wages, voted to accept Holden's pay offer because, as a spokesman for the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union said, "workers felt that due to market uncertainty, it would be prudent to accept what was on offer." Export orders from the Middle East have been sharply cut back since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA, and a drop in domestic demand has been predicted for the remainder of this year and for 2002. The company plans to stabilise its car production at 590 vehicles a day.
The settlement comes several days after Holden reported it would not be introducing a third shift at the end of this year - part of its long-term plans to reach annual production of 180,000 cars - and would not do so until there is global peace in the war on terrorism. A third shift would provide another 400 to 500 new jobs.
Workers will receive 6 per cent backdated to August 2001, 5 per cent in August 2002, 4.5 per cent in 2003 and 1.13 per cent in 2004.
News at other automakers in Australia is that Mitsubishi workers will be accepting a pay increase of approximately 15 per cent over the next 33 months and Ford workers have already agreed to a 15.25 per cent increase. When negotiations at Toyota Australia begin in a few weeks' time, unions indicate they will seek at least as much as workers were granted at Holden.
Source: just-auto.com
Workers, who had aimed for a minimum 20 per cent rise in wages, voted to accept Holden's pay offer because, as a spokesman for the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union said, "workers felt that due to market uncertainty, it would be prudent to accept what was on offer." Export orders from the Middle East have been sharply cut back since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA, and a drop in domestic demand has been predicted for the remainder of this year and for 2002. The company plans to stabilise its car production at 590 vehicles a day.
The settlement comes several days after Holden reported it would not be introducing a third shift at the end of this year - part of its long-term plans to reach annual production of 180,000 cars - and would not do so until there is global peace in the war on terrorism. A third shift would provide another 400 to 500 new jobs.
Workers will receive 6 per cent backdated to August 2001, 5 per cent in August 2002, 4.5 per cent in 2003 and 1.13 per cent in 2004.
News at other automakers in Australia is that Mitsubishi workers will be accepting a pay increase of approximately 15 per cent over the next 33 months and Ford workers have already agreed to a 15.25 per cent increase. When negotiations at Toyota Australia begin in a few weeks' time, unions indicate they will seek at least as much as workers were granted at Holden.
Source: just-auto.com