Bass Strait Workers Win Air Travel

Date: 27 March 2002

A group of about 100 Australian Workers Union, AMWU and ETU construction workers will return to work on a $450 million infrastructure project laying gas pipeline between Tasmania and Victoria after successful talks in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

As a result of the talks the construction workers, who are rostered to the ship four weeks on and two weeks off, will be back paid their air expenses incurred since the beginning of the project in December last year.

All legal action against the union workers - who left the ship, the MV Lorelay, by helicopter on the weekend after a dispute over wages and conditions - has been dropped by Mermaid Labor and Management, which is under contact to the Swiss company Allseas.

The union and companies agreed to have the AIRC adjudicate 16 separate matters still in contention, early next week in Melbourne. AWU national secretary Bill Shorten said he was pleased for members with the outcome of today's Commission conference.

"These workers have experienced an extreme circumstance where they were stranded on a ship in the middle of an industrial dispute for a time without legal or industrial representation,'' Mr Shorten said.

"This is a salient lesson for all employers of major national civil infrastructure projects that employees travelling to and from a project be provided with air travel as a minimum standard to ensure workers get adequate rest breaks.''

For further information

Contact:	Andrea Carson
Union:	Labor Council of NSW
Contact Mobile:	0407 041 933
WWW:	http://www.awu.net.au

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