Maroc - TIMBERBIZ.COM.AU - A La Une - 28/Jan 23:22

Opal blindsides employees and timber companies

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. Source: By Katrina Brandon – Latrobe Valley Express, Timberbiz 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. 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. Australian Forest Contractors Association general manager Tim Lester said timber deliveries to the mill had stopped, and the forest services businesses involved had received confirmation of Force Majeure. “Our estimates, and advice is that more than 120 people from contracting businesses will be directly affected, with flow on impacts for a large number of families and businesses in Gippsland,” he said. “It is unclear how long the situation will last although the current expectation is about four weeks. However, there are likely to be further delays in timber deliveries recommencing as the stockpile of timber already in the wood yard clears.