Pilbara Miners Resist AWAs

Date: 06 May 2004

210 workers at BHP Billiton Yandi iron ore mine in the East Pilbara are set to become the first Australian miners to resist an employer drive for workers to adopt individual contracts.

Yandi, about 120km from Newman, is in the heart of WA iron ore country - which has become the world's mineral treasure chest. Henry Walker Eltin (HWE) has been the principal operating contractor for BHP Billiton at Yandi during its 13-year operation. The majority of the 210 HWE Yandi mine workers are under a union certified agreement negotiated by the Australian Workers Union and the AMWU which is due to expire on July 1.

The AWU had been negotiating with HWE a new agreement when in late March the company began a campaign offering individual Australian Workplace Agreements to its workforce.

At a mass meeting on Friday the workforce attended to unanimously reject HWE's AWA offer. Additionally over 95% have now signed a request calling on the company to stop making personal approaches in regards to them signing an AWA and to get serious about negotiating a collective agreement with the union.

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten praised the union members for their bravery and vision in standing against a system that has little to offer the booming iron ore industry.

"The rejection of Australian Workplace Agreements by the miners at Yandi is a significant turning of the tide. WAs resources sector is generally awash with AWAs and this is the first time the members of a union have withstood coercion to sign individual contracts in the mining industry."

The AWU acknowledges that frontline HWE management is signaling agreement with their workforce on this issue. HWE Yandi project manager Fergus Campbell in a letter dated 29 April 2004 said: "HWE are committed towards negotiating a certified agreement in good faith at Yandi, which provides the parties with mutual benefits."

Mr Shorten adds: "The AWU sees the parties as having made a shrude business decision to pursue a collective agreement to position them for increased production at Yandi amid a bullish iron ore market."

"Individual agreements are proving to be redundant and inefficient management tools. In choosing a certified agreement the Yandi workforce has made a conscious decision to stay in a system that allows unions to negotiate their rights and conditions."

For further information

Contact:	Paul Howes
Union:	The Australian Workers' Union
Phone:	03 8327 0888
Contact Mobile:	0407 041 933
Fax:	03 8327 0899
Email:	media@awu.net.au
WWW:	http://www.awu.net.au

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