Glencore’s Shifty Cuts to Enterprise Agreements: Why the MEU Recommends Voting No
Workers across Glencore sites in the Hunter are being asked to vote on new Enterprise Agreements that contain dangerous new phantom pay tiers.
The MEU recommends voting NO wherever these shifty cuts are proposed.
These agreements introduce lower pay tiers into Glencore sites. They open the door to wage cuts down the track. They weaken Same Job Same Pay protections.
Glencore says the new tiers won’t apply to current workers under these agreements. That’s not the point. They will apply to future workers. They create a second class workforce. They erode wages over time.
MEU delegates and officials have raised these concerns repeatedly in bargaining.
The pay and conditions at these sites weren’t handed out. They were won. Workers before you stood together and refused to sell out the next generation. Now we need to do the same.
A NO vote protects you, your workmates, protects future workers, and protects industry standards across the Hunter.
Currently Mangoola, Ravensworth and United Wambo Joint Venture EBAs under negotiation contain this problem.
All mines, particularly Glencore mines should be alert to this issue, epescially those bargaining or soon to be bargaining.
The Glencore proposals add new phantom pay levels that sit below current wages on site. These pay levels create a loophole that allows lower wages to be applied in the future.
These proposals weaken Same Job Same Pay protections and allow management to reduce contractor wages on site.
Contractors do not receive a vote in this enterprise agreements being forced to ballot, yet the loophole Glencore is trying to create would directly affect them.
Glencore is asking you to vote for changes that drag down the wages of workmates who cannot vote themselves.
That is a line workers should not be asked to cross and should not cross.
Current industry pay and conditions exist because union members before you stood firm and negotiated fair agreements for everyone. They did not sell out the people coming after them, and they did not sign off on loopholes that could be used to cut wages.
Allowing lower pay tiers into this agreement would set a dangerous precendent.
Voting no protects existing classifications, protects contractor wages and blocks loopholes before they expand.
Your vote in an EBA ballot is secret. Glencore will not know how individual workers vote. An enterprise agreement ballot has to be confidential and secure.
Voting no simply means the proposed enterprise agreement is rejected and bargaining continues.
Under Australian enterprise bargaining laws, workers have the right to reject an agreement. This is a normal and protected part of the bargaining process.
Rejecting their shifty cuts tells Glencore that we will not sign off on their loopholes being added into our agreements.
It also shows that workers expect a fair deal that protects existing wage structures.