AMWU members at Ford Australia plants in Geelong and Broadmeadows have taken protected industrial action after the company let negotiations over a collective agreement break down.
After 37 meetings and almost 12 months of arduous negotiations, AMWU members stopped work on Monday to try and achieve better apprentice ratios, job security, wage increases, and a guarantee on entitlements in the event of redundancies.
“These workers haven’t taken industrial action for about 12 years,” AMWU organiser Ian Thomas said. “They’re not doing this for the fun of it. They don’t want to picket or strike. They just want a fair offer.”
Ford Australia announced last week it had posted a $13 million after-tax profit for the 2009 calendar year, but skilled trades workers at Ford have not received a pay rise since August 2008.
Mr Thomas said the workers have only been offered a flat wage increase of $30 a week but they need a pay rise which takes into account increases in the cost of living.
“The workers have made sacrifices and taken so many days off in the last year to try and keep the company going,” he said.
“The workforce was reduced by a third through redundancies and now that sales are up people feel it's about time they got something back.”
A major sticking point in negotiations is Ford’s failure to improve apprentice ratios.
AMWU Delegate Brad Pearson said Ford has an obligation to provide employment and training opportunities for young workers.
“In the past three years there has been a zero intake of apprentices at Ford in Geelong and it’s been two years since an apprentice was put on at Broadmeadows. If large multinationals are not prepared to set an example by training apprentices, then who will?”
The workers are also worried that Ford is undercutting wages by using contract labour.
Ford has also made a proposal to freeze the wages of all new and fixed-term employees for the first twelve months of their employment, at the 'base entry level' of the trade classification structure.
Mr Pearson said the proposal was “morally wrong” and all tradespeople deserve to be paid at a level consistent with their training and job skills.
AMWU members also want Ford to guarantee that all of their entitlements will be paid out in full in the event of redundancies.
Ian Thomas, said AMWU members are prepared to stop work again next Tuesday and Wednesday if Ford fails to make a fair offer on the agreement.
“This action sent a clear message. About 100 people were on site protesting at 6am and when the Geelong Trades Hall Choir turned up there were about 350 community members involved. The people of Geelong know that secure jobs and fair wages benefit the whole community.”