k . bullimore
Sun, 30 Apr 2000 17:33:57 -0700
Comrades,
below is information on the lock out at Joy Mining at Mossvale in New
South
Wales (south of Wollongong - about two hours south of Sydney and 2 and
half hours
north of Canberra). The picket line was violently broken up a couple
of days
ago. Workers are requesting help from the community to maintain the
picket line
- included are contact details. Also included is an article from
Green Left
(April 12) on the workers struggle at Mossvale.
comradely,
Kim B
________________________________
Date: Friday, 28 April 2000 12:08
Subject: Joy Mining Lockout - email the company and join the roster
Comrades and Friends,
Update on the Joy Mining Dispute and some things you can do...
Joy mining is a transnational corporation involved mainly in
manufacturing
heavy machinery for mining.
Their main Australian operation in Moss Vale has locked out its
workers for 3
months during enterprise negotiations. Meanwhile, scabs truck drivers
are
forcing their way through a picket to strip the Moss Vale plant of
equipment
and jobs. They'll probably shut the plant down and leave the workers
locked
out. The workers have not been paid for over a month!
As of last week, workers from the AMWU and ETU employed at JOY have
been barred
through questionable court action from picketing - they can only
protest from
the sidelines. The picket is being maintained by concerned community
protesters
who have established their own community picket to stop the company
from
ignoring its responsibility to its workforce. (A re-run of the
MUA/Patrick
dispute)!
Today's picket line was broken with the help of 15 police who forcibly
removed
picketers.
2 things you can do NOW!
1. Fax/Email the company and tell them to bargain with their workforce
in good
faith. Tell them to call off the SCAB truck deliveries. Bombard their
communications systems with your protests!
Contacts:
(Mr David Johnson, Managing Director)
PO Box 314
MOSS VALE, NSW, 2577
Australia
Phone: 61 2 4868 2011
Fax: 61 2 4868 3238
US Parent Company-
Harnischfeger Industries, Inc.
Robert N. Dangremond
Senior Vice President & Chief Restructuring Officer
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2. JOIN THE PICKET
More unionists and concerned people who do not want to see workers
rights
downgraded any further are urged to join the picket line immediately.
If you
live nearby, then here's what to do...
You can go to the picket any time - it's on Vale Road, Moss vale (just
off
Suttor Road) and is easy to find. Please tell your friends. Important -
Please
also contact Patrick or Rachel on:
(02) 42 264 605 or (02) 42 214 710 to have yourself put on a picket
roster/contact list and organise a lift to the picket.
Please spare some time to support fellow workers.
____________________________________________
Article from Green Left Weekly - April 12, 200
MINING WORKERS LOCKED OUT
By Andy Gianniotis
Mossvale, NSW - Rather than renegotiate a collective agreement that
has been in
place for the last 20 years, Joy Mining Machinery has locked out 71
workers.
Workers walked off the job on March 31 in protest against the company
transferring work off-site and a picket line was established.
The company then indicated that it wanted workers to sign four
enterprise
bargaining agreements (EBA). Three workshops would get a two-year
deal while
workers in the main shop would get a three-year contract. Each
agreement would
contain different pay and conditions.
While the EBA notification allowed workers 14days to think it over,
some
workers were advised by registered mail on April 13 that they were to
be locked
out the next day. The required 72 hours notification for a lockout
was not
given.
Robert Casey, an Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU)
delegate at Joy
Mining told Green Left Weekly that the last EBA they received in the
mail was
"pretty disgraceful".
Casey said: "They've played around with sick leave [and] our rostered
days off
have virtually gone. Our tool allowance was previously a part of the
hourly
rate, and now they want to pay us in a lump sum, and the company wants
to end a
work-clothes laundry arrangement. This company retrenched 41 workers
last
October without any notice whatsoever".
Joy Mining is one of the world's largest mining machinery
manufacturers,
producing up to 75% of all such equipment. Mark Dal Molin, AMWU NSW
industrial
officer, said that, if the company can drive this agreement through,
"the
ramifications will be felt right throughout the manufacturing
industry".
Workers at Joy Mining Rockhampton went on strike for 24 hours in
support of
their Mossvale comrades. Dal Molin toured construction sites in
Sydney on the
morning of the lockout to garner support and collected, from just
three sites,
$1700. Workers at sites at Sydney International Airport have promised
to give
$10 per worker each week.
A 24 hour picket line is in place at Vale Road, Moss Vale, and will
continue
for as long as the workers are locked out. ""We're here to the end",
Casey
told Green Left, "because if we give in now, we'll screw it for
everybody".
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