NSW Premier Bob Carr on the picket line

Premier Shines Spotlight on Danger Ahead for Millions of Workers

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten said meeting with Premier Carr had provided a morale boost to the 42 shut out workers at Boeing Australia's maintenance plant, based at the RAAF's Williamtown Air Base, near Newcastle.

"This dispute hasn't been easy on our members, who are being prevented from doing their jobs simply because they want to negotiate collectively for fair working conditions," Mr Shorten said.

"It does lift their spirits to see their Premier is concerned about how they and their families are coping, especially as their Prime Minister has closed his eyes to their plight.

"Our members know that if this dispute was being handled under the NSW system, it wouldn't have dragged on for so long. The parties would have been called on weeks ago to sit around a table and hammer out a resolution.

"All these workers want is to collectively bargain through their union for better conditions than provided in Boeing's individual contracts.

"The AWU understands why skilled technicians aren't prepared to put up with lesser pay and conditions than they deserve."

Mr Shorten said he hoped Premier Carr's visit would highlight the danger that lay ahead for millions of Australians under the Howard Government's plan to dismantle workplace laws.

"With John Howard giving employers open slather to force their workers onto individual contracts that slash their pay and conditions, many other Australians will be caught up in disputes similar to at Boeing.

"Except it will be even worse for many workers in 12 months time, because they will have lost the protection of unfair dismissal laws.

"When businesses will fewer than 100 employees are able to sack workers without any recourse, what's to stop many of them from telling their workers 'either you sign this contract or you are out the door'?"

In regards to the Boeing dispute, AWU Newcastle Branch Secretary Kevin Maher said the company's action could compromise Australia's defence readiness if it disrupted training schedules for pilots in the FA-18 fleet, described as the single most important component of Australia's defence infrastructure by the Defence White Paper in 2000.

"Boeing has union agreements with other workers in Australia and the US, so why are they discriminating against the workers of Newcastle?," Mr Maher said

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