The Chaff

The Secretary and President Of NUW , NSW

The Union have had a lot going on this year . No need to elaborate but there has been plenty .

Still we have just experienced a negotiation with unprecedented support from this same Union . 

Cheers to that . 

New Legislation That Replaces Workchoices

Most people know that we have resubmitted our EBA claims so that we are covered by the new legislation . This is a source of frustration to some because it's as if we are starting from scratch . We are but for good reason  . The new laws protect the workforce much more . 

Without going into too much detail  , it does appear that the anti Union bias has been removed . 

I have seen some analysis that suggests that the new laws are good for sites with strong Union representation . Unfair dismissal is beefed up from Workchoices as are the National employment standards .

Furthermore the new Fair Work Australia has more power than the Industrial Relations Commission . There is better access for Union officials . Awards have regained their previous importance . 

One area that has not improved is the Industrial action situation . It's still really hard to strike . A workforce has to jump through a series of hoops to even think about walking out . This was the big concession to big business in the finished legislation . 

Look , fair enough  !  We can't have a situation where various workforces  can walk out at the drop of hat . In the seventies strikes were endemic and damaging to the wider economy . For that reason these days Industrial action has to be justified .

The situation at Manildra is now back in a negotiating phase and the workforce cannot apply for Industrial action unless the whole thing breaks down . This can take quite a few weeks . 

So it is tempting to take the action that was nearly endorsed at the last meeting . Walk out and Go For It . The 35% that voted for this option are right . It could work........ but it doesn't unite the workforce . Even if the motion got 51% , that's not enough for mine . Something of this magnititude requires 80/90 % .

That's why patience is paramount . First of all , it shows the workforce is not headstrong or irrational and gives our negotiations some credibility . 

This is important because there is no denying that Manildra showed restraint when Workchoices came in , and did not implement all they could have . Now the tables have turned to a small extent , we have to show the same respect and negotiate accordingly .

Having said that , I expect Management to show more desire to acknowledge the present situation , the improved economic figures , the improved production figures . The reduction in wages . The Nowra 4.% . Global warming and anything else I can think of .

Storemen And Packers Union

1911 - 1916 Rubber Workers Union of Australia        1916 - 1923 Federated Rubber Workers of Australia        1920 - 1946 Commonwealth Foremens Association              1923 - 1933 Federated Rubber Workers Union of Australia              1946 - 1975 Commonwealth Foremens Association of Australia, Commonwealth Public Service                    c. 1900 - c. 1911 Amalgamated Millers & Mill Employes Association of Victoria                    1908 - 1914 Federated Candle Soap Soda & Starch Employees Union of Australia                    1912 - 1988 Federated Storemen & Packers Union of Australia                    1931 - 1978 United Commercial Travellers Guild of Australia                    1933 - 1988 Federated Rubber & Allied Workers Union of Australia                    1975 - 1989 Commonwealth Foremens Association of Australia, Australian Public Service                          1911 - 1988 Federated Millers & Mill Employees Association of Australasia                          1914 - 1988 Manufacturing Grocers Employees Federation of Australia                          1978 - 1991 United Sales Representatives & Commercial Travellers Guild of Australia                          1988 - 1991 National Union of Storeworkers Packers Rubber & Allied Workers                          1989 - 1991 Commonwealth Foremens Association of Australia                                1915 - 1992 Federated Cold Storage & Meat Preserving Union of Australasia                                1988 - 1992 Federated Millers & Manufacturing Grocers Employees Association of Australasia                                1991 - 1992 National Union of Workers (i)                                      1992 - National Union of Workers (ii) For those interested in the history of this Union . It is worth noting that Bill Kelty and Simon Crean are two of the prominent figures in the history of this Union . Simon Crean is a minister in the Rudd Government and Bill Kelty is a huge figure from the Hawke and Keating Goverments . Also part of the history involves Millers and Packers and Storemen .

Now That's Entertainment

It doesn't get much better than a Manildra Union Meeting for a good dose of intrigue , argument , humour and good old fashioned " knock them down - drag them out " style of democracy . 

The meetings are just fantastic nowadays , massive turnouts , intelligent contributions from all concerned , the odd stoush and last but not least , everyone having their say with voting that is well thought out and passionately argued .

I feel proud to be associated with what's going on at present with the workforce . 

The Union itself should be mindful of the massive increase in membership from our site . Manildra was already the biggest contributor from this area anyway . We are now bigger and we deserve all the support the Union can give us . 

It was good to meet Gary Cripps , he seems to fit the bill for what is required in this negotiation . He seems to already have a large workload but is committed to us for as long as it takes to complete this EBA .

We welcome the Gibson Brothers  as delegates . Some brains , some brawn . Things are shaping up .

Did We Really Mean .... Not Negotiable ?

I don't know . It did seem that everyone's hand was up . So that must mean yes ! 

If you weren't there and you disagree , well you weren't there .

You see we are about to test the truth of that vote . Our request has been laughed out of court . 

The management have not budged . It felt like a slap in the face . After all the turmoil recently you would expect them to soothe the general atmosphere . Instead everyone is up in arms . The staff are seething . 

I know I speak to them . 

Now that doesn't mean we are united . If it came to the crunch we have many weaknesses we have to address . 

We shall get some proper advice and then address the members . I urge all members to discuss the issue and examine within themselves how far they are prepared to go before we actually have a meeting . 

There is no point showing bravado on the day but not really having the commitment to do something about it . 

Let's consider the Management's motivation here . Why would they wish more ill will among the staff ? There is major disgruntlement now , why inflame the situation ? 

 

Is this a John Campbell backlash ? Why is it that Nowra have four per cent plus while we are offered significantly less . What exactly is going on ? 

Four Per Cent

A Union Meeting ....... Guess what , a couple of likely lads monopolize the debate and motions are passed . Boom Boom hope you were paying attention .

Yes I was and I agreed with everything they said . And so did everyone else ! Or did they ?

You have got to be quick with these blokes . 

A Union Meeting is a weird affair . For sure ! 

It's a forum for the working man to have his say but the working man is not comfortable talking in public except for a couple of exceptions . The exceptions are the ones who become Union delegates I suppose . 

They set the agenda because they are more comfortable saying a few words .

That's bullshit and not representative .

We should have a better system so that the less eloquent have an equal say . Secret ballots anyone ?

Tradition and Union rules dictate that one must be present at the meeting to vote . Fair enough I suppose but perhaps we should move with the times and come up with a better system .

In this age of technology we could surely design a meeting so that we can get everyones vote regardless of whether they are present or not . 

Anyway moving on , we have put forward our desired rate for the EBA and we are just waiting for the powers that be to rubber stamp it . Yeah just rubber stamp it . 

Arbitrary Choices

What is the price of being a Union Delegate ?

Is it the indignity of being passed over in a round of generous redundancies ?  I'm just asking the question .

You see I think Bob Kizana and Ron Crago are hard done by . It may be that in the past both these men have been involved in skirmishes with management pertaining to their representation of the workers at  Manildra in their capacity as Union Officials .

They are both gutted at being passed over . Bob has personal and family reasons for wanting to go and Ron was just desperate to go out with a bang . He's ready to retire . Loyal servants for decades they deserved a better hearing and a better result .

I hope their histrory of sticking up for the working man has not counted against them at this particular time . I mean Craig Fahey got redundancy .  He's not replaceble far from it , so what's the formula ?

It's a bit like a lottery . Not most of it but some of it . Some decisions seem political . For example if someone has been a bit of a handful in the past then they were given redundancy . Or if someone in management dislikes someone then they get redundancy .

This might work in the short term but it runs the risk of encouraging people to make a nuisance of themselves so that they have a better chance in the next round of redundancies ......... Just joking folks , just joking !

Still you get my point .

The Morning After The Night Before

 

It's dawn . The light brightens , Day shift will be arriving soon . Night shift are preparing to finish their shift .

It's no ordinary day . In a couple of hours both shifts will congregate under the awning . Eight hour employees also . The Union organiser clears his mind , his delegates take a deep breath . And it's on !

I'm writing this post the night before the event , the second Union meeting for members of this current EBA . What will happen ?

Because I've had eleven beers , I am ideally placed to speculate on tomorrow's outcome .

First off , we will bring everyone closer so we can all hear what's going on and also to engender some sense of solidarity .

The membership will be informed of the current situation . Which is the Management bending us over etc etc ......... They have all the cards ! The global financial crisis could not have been better timed for our opponents in this game . They are driving home this advantage relentlessly but politely .

So now we finally get our act together and realise what's going on . We thoughtfully formalise strategy to combat this and consider the facts .

Econony is stuffed .

Packers are idle , restructuring inevitable .

Company keen to get EBA done before sackings .

Production is the same and if there was more , it would be swallowed up as well . Ethanol . B.P. contract .

Half the workers want to accept the Mill's offer , they read the newsapers about the economy .

Half the workers are sceptical of the Mill pleading poor and are also aware that if weekend work is reduced because of the need for starch then it is even more imperative we have an increased pay rate .

Also the personnel that have to be retrenched ? They get a decent and fair redundancy because of the lack of alternative jobs and because of the reasonable position of the Company .

So what will it be ? How will the meeting pan out .

Tomorrow we find out .

So Down Into The Void We Go

When I first started writing this post , it consisted of swear words for the first sentence or so because that is how I feel . Yes we are going to have job losses and I almost can't bear to go through this horrible process again . The stress of not knowing whether one will have a job or not is quite acute and if the unmentionable occurs then it can be a life changing experience .

Broken spirit , broken families , anything is possible . Loss of self esteem , which then contributes to not being able to find another job . In the current climate , that is a quite possible . No company is taking on workers I would imagine . Unless they are debt collectors or liquidators . So any worker finding himself without a job will find the going quite difficult . That is an understatement by the way .

Previous restructuring like the one we last had was different , in that , the economy was very robust and many workers took redundancy packages voluntarily , because they knew they could get another job or they could strike out on their own .

 So although in this instance the Management have agreed to first start with voluntary redundancies , how many people are going to take it up ?

Let's say , that not many will , then I imagine the Company will have to then target personnel from particular sections that need to be downsized . Employees who don't wish to be sacked may have no choice . This is tragedy .  

For starters , casual workers are faced with the guillotine no matter what !  I travel with a guy who is in that situation , he has been casual for about sixteen months and has only recently got on the roster . He is still casual though and this is not his fault , as far as I know there is nothing wrong with his work ethic . He should have been made permanent ages ago . He's a top bloke tailormade for Manildra . 

He played for the Rhinos purely because he wanted to be part of the community and in fact was told that joining the team would help his aim of becoming a Manildra worker with the secuirity that entails . He has two very young children . I am certainly not looking forward to our trip to work tomorrow .  

Now it would be easy to blame the global financial situation for this debacle and no doubt there is some truth in this assertion . Blind Freddy can see the writing on the wall for many companies .

But is this the case for Manildra ?

Perhaps not . Maybe the Ethanol situation has provided a soft landing for our employers . We don't really know. Maybe the Management are taking advantage of the situation to restructure the plant . Let's face it , there is no doubt that there are many packers scratching for something to do and no employer would let that situation continue forever .

My personal view is that production remains the same except it it is going elsewhere with less labour costs . So naturally the powers that be wish the business to reflect that fact . Fair enough but let's not blame the global situation because wheat is way cheaper and if I remember correctly , the price of wheat represents 70% of our costs .

Management have also put forward that Allied Aka Cargill are putting extreme pressure on our domestic market . Well in the recent past nobody has played harder on the domestic front than Manildra so I guess we are up for a fight . This is business after all .

If this means job losses than perhaps we ought to make the landing softer for any employees who are about to lose their job which means more generous redundancy payments . Management won't have a bar of this which seems a bit mean . Considering I believe Manildra remain in good shape . That's just a hunch because I have nothing else to go on .

Except perhaps what happened the other night . We had 14 trucks turn up in the middle of the night to take starch to Nowra because of some problem with the train line . They were open trucks normally used for landscaping , not exactly ideal for carting flour . Smacks of desperation to me . Desperate not to lose guaranteed sales .

Not the sign of a company in trouble .

Mr Livingstone I Presume ?

 

Nigel Livingstone our NUW organiser is a typical example of someone who has made me change my opinion of someone . I expected Nigel to be a Union heavy , you know ruthless , humourless , slippery . With a gun inside his jacket and a baseball bat behind his back .

In fact he is the opposite . He is the more modern prototype  with well thought out ideas and excellent personal skills . I witnessed him deal with what could have been a nasty situation . He showed remarkable patience to defuse an angry and emotional man on the verge of violence .

I'm hoping my involvement in the Union gives everybody a better idea of the personalities of our Union representation and my assessment of Nigel is that he is the right man for the job . He certainly has done a fine job with the Blayney site . I think it up to us to produce more delegates to have a greater representation and say in work matters .

Like for example , the number of positions around the plant that get filled without other workers being given a chance to apply . The weighbridge seems to be the fast track to an office job ! There should be more awareness of the capabilities of Manildra staff and more transparency in the process involved in some of these appointments . For us to be a truly dynamic workforce , people must feel that they are able to progress in some way .

So if us workers were better organised as a group , with discussions and communication across the whole plant then we might be able to influence company policy in certain areas . More Union delegation could achieve this .

Bob Kizana

 

I've got a lot of time for Bob , he is our most experienced Union Delegate at Manildra . I know because I have benefited from his expertise in the past . His commitment to the Union is real and those who think he is too close to management are way off the mark .

Rather it is his ability to be even handed in the various fracas that occur from time to time in any workplace . The more I delve into this Union business the more I appreciate Bob's role . The role demands stability , many good men have been burnt out being a delegate and were not able to continue beyond a year or two .

After the latest meeting ,I feel we need to make a concerted effort to produce more delegates from all areas of the plant similar to how Nestle do it . Slowly build a team that can benefit from Bob's experience while we still have him .  

Blayney boy and Spence

 

Clint from Nestle is an excellent bloke . He is the first guy to be featured on this blog that belongs in another workplace . That's because he is such a cheerful bloke , I wish he worked at Manildra .

He was also the only Blayney delegate that could keep up with Spence and I . The other seven were soundly beaten and by the end of the bus trip home we were sledging them comfortably . So much so that Clint conceded it was Manildra 1 Blayney 0 .

Derrick Belan and the NUW

This week I attended my first delegates meeting in Sydney . Nigel Livingstone picked me up at six . I normally leave for work at six so it kind of felt like work but actually wasn't . Stoked !

Phil from Electrolux was already in the car , we then picked up Spence and in Bathurst we found someone from Mars ... named Les . All great guys . Terrific drive into town with lots of debate .  

We headed to Auburn RSL just round the corner from Manildra Head Office . I was a bit worried about this . What if Dick spotted me hobnobbing with the Commies ?

I soon forgot about that as I absorbed the atmosphere of a couple of hundred of delegates from around Sydney and regional NSW . Working men and women who represent their members in all kinds of situations . Continuing a rich heritage of Australian Unionisation .

Our conditions as they are , owe much to people like these . And of course the egalitarianism that is such a feature of this country . 

The main reason for the meeting was to try and fend off the Victorian branch in their power grab / centralisation strategy . I would be happier voting no , had I the privilege of hearing the other side of the story .

The chance of hearing Charlie Donnelly who had flown in from Melbourne was defeated in a show of hands. Why was there a vote on this ? 

Anyway it seems NSW does not want this to go ahead . So we should all vote no ........don't just throw away the ballot papers when they come . Your vote will mean something whichever way you go .

It's a shame to see Union resources being spent on infighting like this . Court action , expensive lawyers . Financially draining and also distracting to the executive of the Union who really should be worried about other things like my pay rate .

The bosses of the Union are led by Derrick Belan and he is an impressive orator . His father also led the Union so it is in his blood . I like the idea that he is a career Unionist not a potential politician . He does need however to apply himself more to the vexing issue of my pay rate .

Also thanks to Nigel Livingstone who was excellent company throughout . I sensed he really likes his career and is a genuine Unionist with fair and decent opinions that are well thought out .

Nigel of course should be aware how underpaid I am .

It's All Up In The Air

 

It's up to Management now . We've put forward a number of requests which will no doubt be laughed out of court . Hopefully though some will bear discussion by our leaders when they congregate to chortle at our expense . While they are busy splitting their sides they can reflect on the possibilities available to them , in regard to our collective contentment which should then result in a better bottom line .

And remember we are really serious about that coffee machine thing  ...............!

One Shot

At the risk of stating the obvious , the light on the floor is not where we want to be . We need to aim higher because we have one shot at this EBA and we should try and make it  count . Yes of course 4 or 5 percent would be OK and in line with what most workplaces are doing but can we do better ? More to the point can we do better without harming our employer .

By that I mean a scenario where we are significantly better off but not out of the Mill's pocket . Is this possible ? Could Salary Sacrifice achieve this objective ?

Only if it didn't affect the company's tax situation which I am not privy to . We might think salary sacrifice is straightforward but it may not be like that for the company set up for our Mill . The Manildra Group is a series of companies and I am not even going to try and pretend I understand any of how it works .

I am just going to suggest that if it were possible ?  We could cobble together some sort of dodgy tax set up where we plebs pay less tax and get more net . And Manildra still get all their tax breaks . Everyone's a winner as they say !

For example I need a new car , perhaps Manildra can sort of set up a lease agreement similar to what Salary personnel would have . I then pay a pre tax amount for the car which reduces my tax .

The image is by Shane Trevena , great concept brought to life with a simple implement that most of us use . I like it .......... Remember we have only one shot !

Salary Sacrifice

In theory Salary Sacrifice looks great . A company pays a regular bill like a mortgage or car payment from an employee's gross pay . This reduces the taxable amount , therefore more take home pay . Everyone wins because in theory the company pays less too . That's why so many companies do it . It must work in some situations .

Can it work for us ? I don't know because the issue was brought up last EBA and got knocked back . It would be interesting to know whether it's viable . These things are rarely simple though they may sound like they are .

Nevertheless it is worth investigating again because it would be a great way to improve everyone's position especially at the moment with fuel and other prices so high .

Union Meeting

Australia has a great tradition of Unionisation in the workplace and a history of sticking up for the working class man . Whenever I make my way to a Union meeting I am conscious of the sacrifices made by workers in the past so that we can enjoy the benefits we have now . Those employees not in the Union should be aware that the priviliges they enjoy have been won the hard way  by workers fighting tooth and nail way back when .

In the really early days lives were lost in the war against exploitation of the worker . If we lived hundreds of years ago we would be slaves or paupers . Since then however a succession of brave people stuck to their guns . They did it by being a team . A collective . The passage of time had taught workers that they had to stick together to protect their interests .

Nowadays Unions are out of fashion . Young people don't know the history . There were very few of them at the meeting this morning . The majority of the members were the normal ones you would see at a meeting like this . They have a sense of what has gone before and what will be in the future .

For example . if we were Americans in the same job as us , we would get very low wages , hardly any penalties and certainly no protection from being sacked . Their philosophy is all about the boss whereas in Australia it's all about the worker .  In Australia bosses are called by their first name  . Enough said !

I'd never been in a Union before working at Manildra but I have seen with my own eyes how effective it can be . For example many years ago on the packer , Smiley was horsing around on the electric fork and Spleighty caught him , he was in a bad mood and sacked him on the spot . Next day the Union reinstated Smiley . He still works here to this day . Smiley's life might have been quite different had he been sacked that day . Who knows .

My point is that even when you are dealing with a decent and humane employer like Manildra , the Union is still relevant , more so when it comes down to money and negotiations . which brings us to today's meetings . My focus is to obtain a good deal for our EBA  which is why I put my hand up today  . Not because I have any issue with management . I don't .

We just need enough delegates so everyone is heard . When Gordon brought up the lack of support for eight hour day shift people in regards to financials , he was dead right . There are any number of us shiftworkers to beat our own drum so of course Gordon was comprehensively outvoted . 

 Many ideas were put forward but none caught my attention more than a suggestion by a bloke who I don't know but he made the point that the redundancy settings should be adjusted to make it hard for the company to suddenly implement a round of cutbacks to satisfy their bankers . Apparently the current rate is two weeks a year . This person had been made redundant four times in his working life so naturally he felt that four weeks a year was a fairer number . I couldn't agree more .

The process has begun . For a more lighthearted view of today's meeting go to " have a laugh mate " .

Union Bashing

Now let me see , we have a dispute at the moment that centres on an entitlement that is in the award . Apparently it has gone unnoticed for a number of years . The Union purports to be the representative of the worker and is backing the workers in the current dispute . Where were they when the agreements were drawn up in EBAs since ?  With all the fees that they collect from Manildra , you would think we would be getting all our entitlements .

It appears not , in fact maybe there are other anomalies to be uncovered which begs the question , what exactly are we in the Union for ? Are we being represented properly ? Do the bigwigs of the Union do the work and follow up with these agreements or are they too wrapped up in their run for a safe Labor seat ?

Who is making sure Millers and Cleaners are getting dust allowance or the Millers compensated for entering confined spaces for which they are trained .  Are the Packers' interests being looked after when they go down the yard to lump ? I bet there is more because you can't expect admin to be 100% on this . There are periods in business where money is tight and costs are squeezed , if entitlements have been forgotten about they don't tend to get restored during the times of plenty . So it is up to the staff or more to the point the Union to be vigilant .

For the immediate future .Is the Union's strategy on the day of the EBA to turn up and negotiate the rate and ignore the differences that exist between sections ?  Are there going to be any preparations prior to the due date . Are they going to leave that to the delegates who have their own lives to live and cannot possibly cover all the bases ?

Furthermore the delegates are not representative , no millers or cleaners , no fitters . It could be argued that those sections should put up delegates . But who wants to come in on their day off for some bullshit episode ? We've seen any number of good men try and be good delegates but are ground down by the process .

I think the employees of the Mill generate enough fees for the Union to perhaps be a bit more proactive in their approach to the EBA this year . We have six months to get it right for all of us . 

The Wilde One .......yeah the Wilde One .....

Scott Wilde is not as scary as he looks . In fact he saves small animals when they are in trouble . Even big animals ....he is a Wires man and often gets called to help an animal in distress . He's always up for it too .

That's what prompted him to become a Union delegate , he wanted to save an endangered species . The shiftworker who earns decent money . We're happy to have him and thanks also to Bob Kizana who has freely given of his time for many years representing the Union .

Work Choices

The result of the election has shown that the Workchoices policy is quite unpopular . It didn't quite effect us because we are a large workforce but it would have in the future .

To the credit of the Honans and our management , they was never any suggestion of trying to break up the workforce to take advantage of Workchoices . There were no attempts to get workers on AWAs .

Even John Howard had to water down his own legislation while trying to get himself re-elected . Workers don't deserve to lose penalty rates , they sacrifice time with their family to work week ends and nights . I'm glad we haven't followed America on this one .

It appears Workchoices will be dismantled but I must admit the unfair dismissal situation favours workers too much . If a worker is totally shite with a really bad attitude then he should be sacked without management having to worry about repurcussions . If a worker is sacked unfairly there should be some mechanism of appeal but not to the point where really bad workers hang on to their jobs by working the system .

Anyway , let's forget about workers for a moment and focus on the top end of town where executives pocket obscene amounts of money even when they have failed . This is where I hope Labor targets . Really how much money do you need  ?  The greed shown by the highest earners of this country  is abhorrent and feeds into the rest of us where we become overly materialistic .

The alpha men and women of this world  should be setting an example for the rest of us hoi poilloi , with a more moderate lifestlye and more charitable works , instead of this unseemly scramble for the best waterfront property and a mega garage full of Ferraris .

This election has shown us that money isn't everything .

Working at Manildra Flour Mill

This category of The Chaff concerns Industrial Relations . That is the relationship between management and workers . A vital area that drives the wellbeing of the workplace . Are the workers reasonably content ? Are management happy with the workers effort and competency ?  There are many questions and the answers are reflected in the productivity and profitability of the worksite  . Good morale and sound leadership will normally result in decent output  .

It can be a delicate balance but overall Manildra Flour Mill is a good place to work  . The ownership is private , the management is professional and the staff are committed and reliable . It is a unionised workforce but not militant . Most employees are in the union and rightly so ! Some workers can't stand up for themselves but the collective nature of  Union membership mitigates this .

The Chaff has been set up for the use of anyone connected to the Mill be they manager or packer and in the unlikely event of an Industrial dispute , The Chaff will endeavour to be evenhanded . The main aim in that kind of situation would be to furnish facts and information and not fuel the rumour mill .