By Bob Williams - Guardian & Gold Coast North Organiser
We are half way through the year already and it’s time we started putting some thought into the negotiation of our EBAs.
When this subject is broached, people inevitably want to discuss the monetary aspects and just brush over the conditions.
The conditions are what we should be most concerned about as these are what the builders and employers wish to erode. They will try to do this by offering higher hourly rates and promising greater flexibility in the work place.
We all know what that means: No RDOs, longer working hours, work in the rain, no BERT, no CIPQ and 9% superannuation just to touch on a few relevant conditions.
So it’s time to stand up and be counted! If you want the union to go to the negotiating table in a position of power to maintain your conditions and gain better conditions and wages then you, the members, have to stand your ground.
This will involve refusing to work RDOs and excessive hours and not leaving the crib room if you can’t get to your work area dry and when you get there the area has to be dry.
Too many people think they have the right to negotiate these conditions away by doing a deal for themselves to get double time or the like. Well let me tell you that you do not have that right as these conditions were hard fought for and won by unionist to give those that came after them a better workplace and lifestyle.
It is fairly common knowledge that the QMBA has a view that in this round of EBA negotiations their intention is to negotiate the 36 hour week back to a 38 hour week.
This does not surprise anyone who has had any dealings with the QMBA as their main focus over the last few years has been advising builders and employers on how to inhibit and/or block the access of union officials to their membership.
The sole reason for this was to stop you, the workers, from being informed and so allow the employers to convince workers to be flexible about hours of work and RDOs.
Flexibility is a wonderful idea in theory but in reality there is never any flexibility for worker; only for the boss.
In the last EBA we put in a flexibility clause; this was done in good faith (meaning it would only be used in exceptional circumstances ) but as usual they couldn’t help themselves.
They had to try to turn every RDO into a normal working day.
This is why we have to refuse to work anymore RDO’s from here on in.
Otherwise when we get to the negotiating table they will throw up all the jobs that have worked on the RDO’s as proof that workers don’t want a 36 hour week.
I understand that most of us have mortgages and bills to pay and from time to time working an RDO might help - but you need to look at the bigger picture.
The need is there for more money so let’s get prepared to fight for a bigger wage increase without trading away any conditions.
Over the next four months start putting away a few dollars so that when it comes to having a blue to get 7% per year and $6.50 all purpose allowance we can take strike action that will make the QMBA and the builders realise that their use of standover tactics over the last few years is well and truly over.
