By KATRINA BRANDON

 

UP to 300 Maryvale Mill production team members and the CFMEU remain locked out of the mill as negotiations on a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement are at a stalemate, with fears growing about the economic impact on the local community.

Opal company negotiators are overseas, while workers remain keen to return to work, although some who were on leave or sick have retained their work privileges.

The dispute began on Thursday, January 16 when Opal, according to the union, gave an hour’s notice to workers that they wouldn’t be returning to work until a new EBA was agreed upon.

“They are all shattered that this has happened. We have always worked with the company,” CFMEU Maryvale Sub-Branch Secretary, Anthony Pavey, told the Express.

“We had seven operators take a six-hour stoppage, and the company decided to give us one hour’s notice and locked us out. This is the first work stoppage by our members for over two decades. They want to talk about clauses that strip away all our rights and allow them to dictate terms at the drop of the hat,” he said.

Determined: On both sides of the Opal roundabout, workers are staying put and spreading their message. Photograph: Katrina Brandon

Since January 21, one hundred of the locked-out workers, who would have previously been working, camped out at the mill during work hours (8am to 3pm) to establish a presence and show that they want to return to work.

Opal said given the protected action and planned lockdowns by the CFMEU, it could not operate its paper production plant, and had been forced under the Fair Work Act to undertake a legal lockout.

“Maryvale Mill’s operations have been severely impacted by the loss of wood supply from VicForests and the subsequent end to white paper manufacturing,” the company said.

Opal said the terms and conditions from the previous enterprise agreements were no longer relevant in a more competitive market.

“Clearly, Nippon Paper’s Opal has no regard for either their employees or other businesses and their employees,” Denise Campbell-Burns, the Pulp and Paper Worker District Secretary, said.

“Like our members – who were given 60 minutes notice of the lockout – we understand these other companies were given no warning and were caught unprepared, leaving them and their employees blindsided by Opal’s directive.”

Last week, the locked-out workers received support from the broader trade union movement, with the ACTU weighing in and the AMWU, Mining and Energy Union, and Victorian Trades Hall Council pledging support.

At a mass meeting on January 20, the locked-out Opal workers vowed to stand firm and seek a fair deal that does not undermine their existing terms and conditions.

Mr Pavey said all staff on approved sick or annual leave were revoked initially due to the lockout, but on January 23, the company was made to honour those on leave.

Defiant: Opal workers have been locked out for over a week and are camping outside the Maryvale mill, saying they want to be working. Photograph: Katrina Brandon

Before honouring the approved leave, on January 23, Mr Pavey had told the Express: “The main negotiator is off to Europe as of today, so she isn’t even going to be here in the negotiations going forward. The company’s lawyer is unavailable for tomorrow’s (January 24) meeting. They don’t sound like they want to sort things out in a hurry”.

“Now, it’s going to extend to other contractors and all the rest of them, who are going to lose their incomes and are going to be stood down. It’s going to be wide-reaching throughout the community,” he said.

“We just want to make sure that we have a presence out there to let our employers know that we are sitting there wanting to return to work. We are just not going to be forced back to work in worse conditions.

“They are just trying to drive their agenda, which has been the whole time.

“We have told them (Opal) that we are not interested in a lot of things, and even as we go through the redundancy clauses and all of that, they have manipulated our conversations and have tried to track them as close to an agreement or that,” CFMEU Maryvale Sub-Branch Secretary, Anthony Pavey said of the lockout.

“They don’t have a roster. They haven’t got anything. They want to call it a flexibility clause, where they can chop and change us whenever they like without payment for interfering with people’s lives.

“We have always been happy to work with the company and strive to improve the place, but the current agenda seems to blame the workforce and drive the conditions and pays down, which is just not on.”