CFMEU: Yallourn 100 Day Lockout Ends

Operators at Energy Australia’s Yallourn power station have today voted to accept a workplace agreement that boosts pay and job security and gets them back to work after a record 100-day lockout, the CFMEU said.

The 75 operators will go back to work on Monday.

The agreement addresses workers’ concerns I ncluding job security and staffing levels, said CFMEU National President Tony Maher.“This is a great outcome for the workers, who were determined to stand up for fair conditions at Yallourn,” said Mr Maher.

“They and their families are delighted to have this dispute resolved so they can get back to work.

“But it should never have come to this. These workers have been locked out of their workplace for 100 days in the longest ever lockout in the power industry.

“The lockout was an overreaction from the company to a set of reasonable demands from its workforce. It has made the road to a fair deal much longer and more painful than it needed to be.

“The CFMEU is enormously proud of its members at Yallourn, who have held together in very tough circumstances.”

Key elements of the offer accepted by workers:

• Four-year term
• Job security clause providing that no employee can be made redundant in order to be replaced by a contractor
• Guaranteed minimum staffing level of 73 operators
• Comprehensive dispute settlement clause
• 22.5% wage increase over four years