Union members calling for a change in legislation to protect their long-term job security rallied in Perth this morning – but Australian Workers Union members from Alcoa’s Pinjarra facility were largely blocked from attending by the Fair Work Commission.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions organised the rally at Solidarity Park, with the protest the first of 21 Change the Rules events planned for across the country.
The rally comes on the back of the AWU dispute with Alcoa and news yesterday that BP have filed to terminate the Enterprise Agreement of the union’s members at their Kwinana refinery site.
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Large numbers of AWU members were expected at the meeting after the union made the Fair Work Commission aware this week of their intention to undertake further industrial action against Alcoa.
This comes on the back of about 1600 workers from the multinational company’s Pinjarra, Kwinana, Wagerup, Huntly and Willowdale facilities spending 52 days on strike in August and September.
However, after a legal process yesterday, the Fair Work Commission has sided with Alcoa and stated the AWU is unable to undertake any industrial action for the next month.
This will have blocked many of the AWU members from attending the rally at Solidarity Park, but the union’s flags and banners were still present at the protest.
AWU members have voted on whether to accept Alcoa’s latest Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and the result is expected to be announced later today.