Bryce Eishold
The CFMEU has welcomed a new enterprise agreement with Loy Yang B owner Alinta Energy and described the four year proposal as a sign of confidence for workers in the region.
Employees will be awarded a 4.8 per cent pay rise from September 2018 followed by three 3.7 per cent pay increases over the final three years of the agreement.
While the proposed agreement is yet to be ratified by the Fair Work Commission, CFMEU Mining and Energy Division Victorian branch secretary Geoff Dyke said it was a step in the right direction.
“There are some minor changes. It’s basically a rollover agreement, however, the only change was to the financial year,” Mr Dyke said.
“Previously there was a bonus awarded to workers on the calendar year and that’s gone to the financial year because Alinta operates on a financial year compared to the station’s pervious owner who operated on a calendar year.
“It meant we had to do a six-month bonus transition so we could get in-sync with the financial [year] but that was pretty much it.”
Mr Dyke said the agreement signalled Alinta was “maintaining collaborative workplace relations” which would ensure the performance of the power station.
“It puts some certainty going forward. There’s two major turbine replacement outages coming up over the next two years so it gives certainty over that period so there’s no industrial unrest over that period,” Mr Dyke said.
“This is the first agreement that we’ve done with Alinta Energy and I guess it’s an indicator that Alinta want to work with their workforce.”
Eighty-nine per cent of those who voted for the new agreement were in favour, 11 per cent of those voted against it.
“We are extremely pleased by the swift outcome of the EA negotiations and the successful majority vote on this occasion,” Loy Yang B general manager Tony Hicks said.
Alinta said it would submit the updated agreement to the Fair Work Commission within 14 days.
