FED: Unions vow to fight for Manusafe entitlement scheme

AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-2001
FED: Unions vow to fight for Manusafe entitlement scheme

SYDNEY, Aug 31 AAP - The union-developed trust fund Manusafe, designed to protect workers'
entitlements, was not dead in the water, a senior union official said today.

Unions today slammed as "ill-informed" a ruling by the Australian Industrial Relations
Commission (AIRC) yesterday which found industrial action in support of the Manusafe scheme
was illegal.

The ruling is a devastating blow for unions who were using the protection of workers'
entitlements under Manusafe as a bargaining tool in enterprise negotiations.

Under workplace laws, workers are legally allowed to take industrial action during
enterprise talks.

The push for the Manusafe scheme began last month during an industrial dispute by Tristar
components workers that almost brought the car industry to its knees.

That dispute ended after unions and the car parts company agreed to a insurance bond
to protect workers entitlements.

The decision handed down by commissioner Paul Munro yesterday related to a strike by
workers at Transfield in Sydney's west.

The workers had taken industrial action in support of their entitlements being protected
under the Manusafe scheme.

Commissioner Munro found that the protection of entitlements under Manusafe was not
directly related to the relationship between employers and employees as part of an enterprise
agreement.

And he ordered workers to cease industrial action at the site for six months.

But Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) assistant national secretary Dave
Oliver said the union would appeal the decision.

"This decision is just a speed hump on a long road," Mr Oliver said.

"Employers shouldn't be popping the champagne corks just yet."

Mr Oliver said the union believed the issue of protecting workers' entitlements was
an industrial matter and it would fight the AIRC decision.

"This is an ill-informed, and poor decision by the AIRC," he said.

Mr Oliver said the union would continue its fight site-by-site and employers who thought
the Manusafe scheme was dead should think again.

AAP nd/jjs/cjh/de

KEYWORD: MANUSAFE UNION

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