Christmas On The Picket Line

Australian Workers' Union National Secretary Bill Shorten said the engineers, from the RAAF Williamtown base near Newcastle, were making big sacrifices to stand up for their rights and those of other Australians.

"Who wants to be spending Christmas away from their homes and their extended families?" Mr Shorten said. "They are all good friends to one another, but I am sure they will be a bit sad during the day that they are not able to celebrate Christmas as they usually would.

"Many of them will also have heavy hearts because they will be worried that Boeing's stubbornness will mean they can't get back to work any time soon in the New Year."

Mr Shorten said the engineers felt very let down by the Howard Government, which had sided with Boeing throughout the 208-day dispute.

"John Howard keeps saying he is the best friend of Australian workers, but what kind of friend is he when he would rather have workers sitting on a picket line on Christmas day than demand that the parties sit down around a negotiating table?," Mr Shorten said.

"These workers aren't asking for anything outrageous - all they are fighting for is their right to have their union negotiate their pay and conditions.

"These skilled aircraft maintenance engineers have been getting a pretty raw deal; they are paid about $20,000 less per year than people with the same skills working in other parts of Australia.

"Through our current enterprise bargaining negotiations with Qantas, we know that Qantas aircraft maintenance engineers are paid $20,000 more than our members at Boeing Williamtown, and equivalent employees at Hawker De Havilland are earning roughly the same as at Qantas."

Mr Shorten said the workers were pleased with the progress of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission's Inquiry into the Dispute, and were keenly awaiting the release of its report early in the New Year.

AWU Newcastle Branch Secretary Kevin Maher said the Boeing engineers were buoyed by the messages of support and donations they had received from across Australia.

"It's been a exhausting and frustrating year for these Boeing workers but they have certainly appreciated all the goodwill sent their way by other ordinary working Australians," Mr Maher said.