AWU and Rio Tinto make a new workplace deal

The AWU says they have got into a workplace agreement with Rio Tinto and it shows how the union of the both is “able to move with the times”.

The agreement was made after years of hostilities between these two leading parties over conditions at the Bell Bay aluminium smelter of Rio.

The agreement has been approved by a ballot of workers and both the union and miner have lauded as flexible in light of a recent downturn in the aluminium market.

The AWU had said earlier workers at the plant were receiving less wages compared to their mainland counterparts and mounted a sustained attack on the multinational miner.

However, the national secretary of AWU, Paul Howes said there has been a decrease in guaranteed wage increase.

Under the deal, workers will still have common law contracts focused on payment rates but a number of conditions previously mentioned in the contracts have again been included in this new enterprise agreement, he said.

These include the minimum requirements for redundancy payouts made up of 3 months’ notice and payment of half a month for each year of service covering at 65 weeks, family medical insurance and death and disability payments equal to the base salary of a worker.

Paul Howes said the deal secured certainty for Bell Bay employees “without creating any adverse working conditions that would damage the company’s performance”.

He added, “Now we are in a situation where Australian aluminium production is under a huge amount of pressure because of the low price on the LME (London Metal Exchange) and the high Australian dollar. So the priority for our organisation today is ensuring the job security of our members at that plant. We would never bargain for wages that come at the expense of job security. That has always been our union’s philosophy."