This Friday the Union members at Ford Australia’s Victorian plants will vote on an enterprise agreement, which includes a 12-month pay freeze. Meetings will be held at Ford’s Geelong and Campbellfield factories, with members encouraged by union leaders to accept the three-year agreement that has taken more than six months to thrash out.
Ford Australia initially had pushed for a two-tier pay system under which new employees would be paid less than existing workers, but the union flatly refused it.
However, the 12-month pay freeze sought by the company has been included in the package to be put to the vote, but more than four months of that period has already passed as the agreement period started in July.
From July 2010, the hourly base rate would increase by $30, with another $30 increase in August 2011 and a further $20 increase in July 2012.
A range of other issues, including planning and logistics at its Victorian facilities, have all been resolved in the proposed agreement.
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union national secretary Ian Jones told GoAuto that the agreement that would be presented to its members was a good one.
“It goes up for the vote with the unanimous support of the vehicle shop stewards,” he said.
“I think the agreement is a responsible agreement for very, very difficult times.”
Mr Jones said the agreement was good for workers as well as for Ford.
“When you analyse the outcome, in these times, it is quite remarkable,” he said.
Mr Jones would not be drawn on whether he thought the Ford workers would say yes to the deal on Friday.
“I’ve been around too long to second-guess that,” he said.
Source: http://goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/1FCC11DA5AA9543BCA25766F007CF27A
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