More than 900 workers in the Latrobe Valley could see their wages slashed by at least $100 per week in a bid to help the struggling Australian Paper Maryvale mill.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says its pay cut recommendation was put forward after years of negotiations with Australian Paper’s parent company Nippon Paper.
Earlier this year maintenance workers at the mill agreed to a 38-hour, four-day week while being paid for 35 hours, in return for 52 days off a year.
The CFMEU’s pulp and paper division secretary Alex Millar tells Australian Printer in return the Japanese Nippon Paper has expressed commitment in making significant investment in the industry by updating the plant and equipment.
Millar adds, “They have also committed to a business plan for entering new markets, considering the current markets they are in are collapsing because of the digital era.
“The company has come back and spoken to us about where they see it going, we have confidence that they do have a long term plan, and that is something our members will have to trust in.”
Millar’s comments are echoed by findings of the 2016 edition of the Pulp & Paper Strategic Review which reports printing and communication paper demand slumped by 6.2 per cent between 2015 and 2016.
Millar says workers are likely to vote on the pay cuts by February in a secret ballot. However, he says the mill workers will be seeking the federal government’s support of the Australian paper industry before any changes are voted on.
He says, “From a union point of view, workers are doing their part to secure their jobs, Nippon is committing to investment in terms of job security, now the federal government has to do its part by not using foreign made paper so it can start assuring the industry.”
Millar alleges the CFMEU is aware of 16 government departments which currently use foreign made paper products, an incredible fact if true for a national government tasked with promoting the domestic economy.
Earlier this year it was reported the federal government had shipped in 20 million sheets of paper from overseas to use for ballots in the federal election.
At the time, an Australian Electoral Commission spokesperson could only confirm the ballot papers would be printed in Australia, but was not aware of the paper’s origin.
The federal government’s Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) is also under pressure to impose tariffs on paper companies from China, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand which allegedly sold paper at below market rates to Australia during 2015.
The ADC launched an investigation and was due to make a final decision by August 1, however a decision has not yet been reached.
Millar has described the ADC’s investigation of the case as ‘slow and tortuous’.
He says, “The CFMEU feels the process should be streamlined, there should be initial tariffs imposed at the start of cases, rather than go down months at a time before there is any penalty.”
In September, Commissioner Dale Seymour told Australian Printer, “This is an extremely important investigation and for this reason it is essential that we complete our investigation properly."
Australian Paper supports nearly 6000 fulltime jobs in Australia across its operations.
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