District Vice President Glenn Power said the company’s decision to pay lesser redundancies to union members than those on individual arrangements was a clear-cut case of discrimination.
Yesterday members overwhelmingly voted to approve protected industrial action to protest Rio’s plans ahead of the mine’s scheduled closure on November 23.
The CFMEU is currently assessing all the options of affected workers, given the Union and company were in the midst of enterprise agreement negotiations – which started in July - at the time of Rio’s closure announcement.
“All our members are looking for is equality,” Mr Power said today. “When a worker receives a much lower redundancy package than someone they’ve worked alongside for years, with the only difference between the two being the one who’s disadvantaged is a union member, that’s discrimination.
“We understand that the coal market has changed and that Rio has embarked on a range of cuts to its cost, but it’s plain wrong to shortchange a section of your workforce on the basis of union representation.”
In August this year Rio Tinto was found guilty of victimising a Pilbara worker for raising complaints about safety and employment conditions in what a Federal Court described as a “grave breach” of workplace rights.
Contact: Martin Watters 0400 179 620
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