BlueScope profit justifies strike

Date: 19 August 2004

BlueScope's record profit of $584 million announced today confirmed workers' concerns about the company's unfair superannuation and redundancy policies.

The Australian Workers' Union said that industrial action in BlueScope Services Centres could escalate unless the company treated superannuation and redundancy in the same way as other companies in the industry.

More than 1,000 BlueScope workers went on strike over the issue last week at BlueScope Steel Service Centres and BlueScope Lysaght sites in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

The AWU said that BlueScope Steel is short-changing workers by:

- not counting bonuses in superannuation payments; and
- refusing to include redundancy provisions in a new enterprise agreement.

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten said that BlueScope workers are delivering record profits for the company and deserve to have their superannuation and redundancy entitlements protected in the same way as other steel workers.

"BlueScope's superannuation and redundancy policies are undermining the future income security of thousands of workers and their families," Mr Shorten said.

"BlueScope is using an outdated legal technicality to avoid paying its workers their full super entitlements. BlueScope executives are collecting generous super packages for themselves while short-changing their workers. There is no good reason not to include redundancy rules in an enterprise agreement unless the company does not want to play God with the redundancy conditions of workers."

BlueScope Boss Kirby Adams received $204,528 in superannuation alone as part of his $4.4 million salary package announced today.

For further information

Contact:	Jeremy Vermeesch
Union:	The Australian Workers' Union
Phone:	03 8327 0888
WWW:	http://www.awu.net.au

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed
by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW
[Credits] [Site Matters]