General Motors’ subsidiary Holden has settled the long-running enterprise bargaining dispute with its 5,000-strong blue-collar workforce with a 16.7 percent pay rise package, writes Mike Duffy.
Pay increases start with a six percent rise, backdated to August 1. Further annual increases will total 16.7 percent in simple terms and compound to 17.7 percent during the 39-month life of the agreement.
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The settlement in the Holden enterprise bargaining dispute now opens the way for the company and unions to press ahead with plans to introduce a third shift at the Elizabeth, South Australia, assembly plant early next year – a must-do expansion to achieve production capacity of 180,000 vehicles by 2005.
About 500 new jobs will be created by the move to a three-shift system.
Shop stewards turned down the previous offer of 16.3 percent – described by Holden negotiators as a “bottom line” position.
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Workers staged a three-day strike which cost Holden $A40 million in lost production of Commodores for the domestic and export markets as well as the Chevrolet-badged versions sold in the Middle East and South America.
Workers are odds-on to accept the new offer when they meet to vote on the offer.
While there is a settlement at Holden, workers at Adelaide-based Mitsubishi Motors Australia have rejected an offer of a 14.75 percent pay increase over 33 months.
Workers are believed to be satisfied with the pay increase but are unhappy about the flexible shift working demanded by the company.
Unions have opened fresh negotiations in a bid to reach a settlement.
A meeting of Mitrsubishi workers – mindful of the need to support the company in its efforts to turn last year’s record loss of $A186 million into a break-even result this year – have voted against any strike action.
With peace assured on the shop floor, Holden will be looking to schedule as many additional shifts as possible to recoup lost production from two strikes within a month.
The first strike, which lasted seven days, involved a Sydney steering column components company whose workers went on strike in support of protection for worker entitlements.
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