Combined union picket in Dandenong continues
“We’re fighting for our rights; if it takes a long time, it takes a long time”, says Arav (not his real name), a production worker and NUW member. “We’re all in our thirties, and the Liberal government wants to move the retirement age up to 70. We have to sacrifice now to keep the conditions we have.”
In a welcome show of unity, AMWU and NUW members have joined each other on the picket line at their factory in Dandenong, a suburb in Melbourne’s south-east. Their action is the latest stage in separate enterprise agreement disputes with Aspen Pharmacare, a large pharmaceuticals multi-national. Workers from both unions have been bargaining with the company for months.
Management wants to extend the working week and cut the number of rostered days off (RDOs) for all new hires in half, from 24 to 12 a year. When workers responded with a 24 hour stop-work on Wednesday 8 July, management locked them out the next day. Now both unions – with a combined membership of around 175 – are staying out indefinitely.
That all sounds like serious business, and it is. But the workers’ sense of camaraderie almost gives their struggle a festive atmosphere.
“People are enjoying themselves”, Arav tells me. “When we work on the floor we hardly get time to catch up. Now, on the picket line everyone gets to know everyone.”
“And we’re eating like kings!”, someone else chimed in. “Look, they’re cooking up a curry for everyone”, he says, pointing to the large pot that has been bubbling since I arrived.
Nearby groups of workers are absorbed in serious games of cricket and carom, an Indian billiards game. Others sip coffee as they mill around barrel fires for warmth and conversation. If it wasn’t for the union flags and fluoro work-wear the picket could easily be mistaken for a neighbourhood barbeque.
According to many workers there, management has had a policy of hiring recent migrants, mostly from India and East Asia. Nothing to do with benevolence, workers recognise that the hiring policy was implemented because the company thought recently arrived migrants would be easy to intimidate. But they’re now the most determined to fight.
James (not his real name), a delegate with the AMWU, says that the strike has galvanised the workplace. “I’m learning more about everyone’s background and where they come from. They [the Indian workers] are playing cricket over there, and yesterday we were showing them how to kick the footy around. They’re good blokes, they’ve got families and commitments just like everyone else. The strike is bringing a lot of people together.”
James tells me that management offered to exchange the RDOs for a larger pay rise each year, but the workers refused. “You’ve got to stick to your principals”, he says. “It’s not about money, it’s about having time to spend with our families. We want maintain our conditions and we will stay out here for as long as it takes.”
The workers’ resolve was tested on Wednesday night when the company tried to break the picket with management and scab contractors, many of whom had been trained by the workers now on strike.
“We all linked arms across the front gates”, says James. “We said ‘if you push us, we’ll push back’. A couple tried to push through, but once they realised that we wouldn’t break they backed off.”
Kim (not his real name) is also a delegate, but with the NUW. He’s a young, serious looking man. I ask him if he’s ever been on strike before. “No, I’ve only been a delegate for a month”, he says. “My training starts now!”
He explains how the workers are divided by department, job and nationality. The unity evident on the picket line was built up over time, he says. There was a conscious effort by the delegates to get members involved in “fighting against discrimination, around overtime and so many other things”.
“And now look,” he proclaims, “people hold their heads high, they try to keep their spirit up. Since we are out now, we have to win it. That’s what the mindset is. We can’t come back on their terms and conditions, it has to be on ours.”
[Supporters are welcome at the picket – 300 Frankston Dandenong Road, Dandenong South]
