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8 August, 2001The deal will boost the campaign by Australian trade unions to protect workers' entitlements.
AUSTRALIA: The campaign to secure workers' entitlements with a special insurance scheme in case of company collapse has received a big boost from Tristar Steering and Suspension. After two weeks of strike action at the company, the auto parts manufacturer has agreed to contribute about A$600,000 (US$307,707) over two years to protect the A$17 million (US$8.7 million) in entitlements accumulated by its 350 workers.
Tristar also agreed to a 10 per cent pay rise for its workers over the next two years, which was a 2 per cent increase on its previous offer, and workers returned to their jobs on the afternoon of August 8.
The deal was hailed as a victory by the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and the Australian Workers' Union, both affiliated to the IMF, and means that more than 10,000 workers laid off at the Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi plants will get back to work on August 10. Car assembly is expected to resume next week. Lost production at car plants and in the automotive parts industry has been estimated at more than A$100 million (US$51 million) over the past week.
AMWU national assistant secretary Dave Oliver remarked that while the unions did not gain acceptance of Manusafe, a union trust fund, they did lay the groundwork for a successful campaign over the trust fund. "Tristar has opted for a short-term and costly fix," he said. "Manusafe is a less expensive and a more long-term option ... and we will be pursuing that." And AWU national secretary Bill Shorten pointed out that the deal showed the federal government that the debate over protecting workers' entitlements was no longer about its appropriateness, "but how it should operate."
The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sharan Burrow, congratulated the unions for achieving total protection for workers' money and called on the government to legislate for a comprehensive, employer-funded scheme.
Source: The Age
Tristar also agreed to a 10 per cent pay rise for its workers over the next two years, which was a 2 per cent increase on its previous offer, and workers returned to their jobs on the afternoon of August 8.
The deal was hailed as a victory by the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and the Australian Workers' Union, both affiliated to the IMF, and means that more than 10,000 workers laid off at the Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi plants will get back to work on August 10. Car assembly is expected to resume next week. Lost production at car plants and in the automotive parts industry has been estimated at more than A$100 million (US$51 million) over the past week.
AMWU national assistant secretary Dave Oliver remarked that while the unions did not gain acceptance of Manusafe, a union trust fund, they did lay the groundwork for a successful campaign over the trust fund. "Tristar has opted for a short-term and costly fix," he said. "Manusafe is a less expensive and a more long-term option ... and we will be pursuing that." And AWU national secretary Bill Shorten pointed out that the deal showed the federal government that the debate over protecting workers' entitlements was no longer about its appropriateness, "but how it should operate."
The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sharan Burrow, congratulated the unions for achieving total protection for workers' money and called on the government to legislate for a comprehensive, employer-funded scheme.
Source: The Age