Australian Paper staff walk off the job after contract controversy

One hundred striking workers at the Maryvale mill in Victoria have walked off the job, risking fines after the announcement of a deal that could jeopardise working conditions. They are due to return to work this morning but there is no guarantee the trouble will be over.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission told Australian Paper that it was illegal for contractors to reach agreements which set out higher rates of pay and conditions.

According to a report in The Australian Dean Mighell of the Electrical Trades Union supported the action and said there the need to address practices which give workers no control over what their wage is. "These guys are very upset," he said. "Some of them spent seven weeks on strike in 1998 and now they're seeing the potential for everything they fought for to be lost, with no job security."

The strike has definitely bought these issues to light, according to Mighell, who was recently forced to resign from the Labor Party over rogue comments. "It was very effective," he said. "It raised awareness of this issue and the full implications of work choices, namely showing that there are lots of long term implications. What we're seeing is how Work Choices can manifest itself in areas like job security and wages while people run the risk of being undercut."

Got a view on this story? Drop us a line and let us know