A pay cut for Holden workers is still an option, SA Premier Jay Weatherill said today.
While the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has ruled out pay cuts as a “bridge too far”, the Premier said it must remain on the table for negotiation, despite opposition from the workers.
The union’s John Camillo told InDaily that recent enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiations between workers and Holden to find production savings had found $9 million, still short of Holden’s target of $15 million, with a deadline of Friday, August 2.
“The workers are prepared to make changes in workplace flexibility, but pay cuts are a bridge too far,” he said.
With seven days’ notice required before a workers’ vote, the new EBA will be voted on by Holden workers the following Friday, August 9.
Today, Premier Weatherill warned the workers that every option must be considered.
“If we are going to have a future for Holden, it will require everyone to make a contribution.
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“(Pay cuts) are on the table, even though the union, on behalf of the workers, is resisting them,” the Premier told Fiveaa this morning.
“All of these things are at a delicate stage.”
The workers deal is part of several funding issues being negotiated by Holden as it seeks to increase money promised by Federal and State Governments.
Weatherill confirmed that the State Government contribution of $50 million – promised last year – is yet to be paid.
The money had formed part of a $275 million Federal and State Government package announced by Julia Gillard in March 2012 which included a $215 million federal grant and $60 million from the South Australian and Victorian governments to secure a $1 billion commitment from Holden to build next-generation Cruze and Commodore models at the Adelaide plant.
“The $50 million hasn’t been paid yet and is on the table for negotiation as to when and how,” the Premier said.
The State Government had considered that the agreement to pay the $50 million had been breached when Holden announced a further 400 redundancies earlier this year.
Weatherill confirmed that negotiations with the Federal Government on additional funding were continuing, with the future of the car-making industry in the balance.
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“It’s a matter for negotiation,” he said.
“We would like the matter to be concluded as soon as possible. Sixteen thousand workers and their families depend on it.
“It undeprins much of South Australia’s industrial base.
“All of these things are the subject of negotiation. The first step is this very important vote the workforce has to take.”
Holden will take its final business case to company headquarters in Detroit. A decision on the compnay’s future in Australia will be made by Tim Lee, General Motor’s president of international operations.
“The Australian bosses are finalising a business plan for the long-term production of the Cruze and the Commodore at Elizabeth; they will take it to Tim Lee in Detroit in September and he will make a decision,” the AMWU’s John Camillo warned last week.
“If he says no, then the current production will continue and the plant will eventually close down around 2017.”
Camillo and the Holden workers have been meeting every day to help Holden finalise a plan that Lee will like.
“We’re trying to help them as much as we can.We are meeting on a daily basis.
“(Holden’s Australian boss) Mike Devereux has told us he wants to tell Lee that the workers at Elizabeth can be flexible when demand for vehicles goes up and down.
“But those proposals mean a change to the current wage agreement we have in place that expires in November 2014.
“Holden wants a new deal done by the 9th of August.”
A pay cut now appears to be the central sticking point, with just 12 days remaining.
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