AMWU members at Megabolt in Campbellfield, Victoria went back to work this week after taking successful protected industrial action to win their first union collective agreement.

AMWU officials formed a guard of honour for the workers as they walked into the factory for the first shift.

For the first time, many Megabolt workers’ pay has risen above the minimum wage with an immediate 10% pay increase, sign-on bonus and back pay to 2 June 2010.  This will be followed by 4.5% increases over the following two years.

Conditions under the agreement have also improved significantly, with all casuals who have been with the company for six months or more to be made permanent.

In addition, the workers have gained monthly RDOs, improved redundancy provisions, an award-aligned classification structure and important clauses on contractors, health and safety and union rights.

AMWU delegate, Zelko Cimboro, says both workers and the company have learnt from the experience.

“We’re ecstatic with the outcome. We got the outcome we wanted and the workers definitely feel stronger together now.

“Some of us have been working together for years but never really spoke to each other before, but being on the picket line together, hearing about each other’s families and interacting with each other every day, it really helped us bond together.

“I think the company got taught a lesson too, they’ll realise they don’t want to go down this path again and that they need to treat the workers with respect.

“Now hopefully we can get the other non-union workers on board for the next negotiations and be even stronger”, he said.

Ale Mulipola, AMWU organiser, credits the win to the workers’ resolve and collective strength.

“It was hard, but we’ve achieved a good outcome from this dispute. The most important thing is now that the workers are sticking together for one another. That didn’t happen before.

“They didn’t know how to organise, but now they do, and they’re in a much better position than they were eight months ago because of that”, he said.

“They’re very happy – a couple of them had tears in their eyes today when they walked through. Not tears of anger or sadness, tears of what they’ve achieved as a group through being part of our union.”