Page 12 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

STANDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUB55
Union members around the country are standing in solidarity and taking action in support of
the CUB55. ETU Shop Steward Matt Potts (age 32) explains how members at his site have
Trallied to the cause.
he so called “redundancies” of 55 workers at CUB is nothing short of an absolute disgrace!
The removal of this maintenance workforce by CUB management after these highly skilled workers had given 907 years of combined loyal service to CUB can only be described as the ultimate act of corporate greed and bastardry!
Yes, what CUB chose to do by changing their “contractor” of seven years is supposedly “legal”. But to bring in a new contractor using
an EBA signed off by three casual employees in Western Australia five years ago simply highlights how screwed up the Australian Fair Work Act is!
The decision to make these highly skilled workers redundant has struck a nerve with workers all across Australia. The feelings of angst and disgust for the CUB55 by the workers on the high-rise construction site at which I work are profound.
If it can happen at CUB, it can happen anywhere
Upon learning of the news not long after this dispute started I thought to myself, how can this be allowed to happen? If this can happen to workers at a workplace rich in union history, this can happen to any worker, in any workplace, anywhere in Australia!
It was clear early on that this dispute didn’t only affect these 55 CUB workers; the outcome of this dispute will have ramifications for the Australian workforce as a whole if we as union members just sat back and allowed this big multinational company to throw its workers out in the cold to try to save a buck!
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fffAt the ETU delegates conference
in June, ETU Organiser Steve Diston spoke very passionately on stage with a dozen unemployed CUB workers by his side. A motion was put forward
to impose a mandatory $20 weekly levy for all Victorian ETU members from week six of the dispute to help support our fellow brothers on the picket line to stand up and fight.
When the levy was imposed there was absolutely no resistance from ETU members to start making donations towards the CUB55.
Eleven weeks into the dispute Steve Diston was invited to speak to 300 construction workers at the site at which I work. Disto brought two CUB workers, Jarrod and Chris, with him so that our site could see that these were real people that he was talking about.
Disto gave one of the most empowering speeches most people on site had ever heard. As a result, ever since that day, the donations and moral support from the workers on site has been overwhelming!
Support from micro-breweries
With Steve Diston’s help I approached Broo Beer and asked if they would like to donate a couple of slabs so that we could conduct an
WE NEED
TO KEEP BOYCOTTING CUB PRODUCTS IN SUPPORT
OF THE CUB55.
onsite raffle to help raise funds for the CUB55. Excited by the opportunity
to help with the cause, the Broo Beer rep insisted on donating a pallet
(60 cases of beer) to the ETU to help raise donations across several sites simultaneously.
Construction workers – and many others – around the country are boycotting CUB products in support of the CUB55. This has been great for local micro-breweries, with some of them admitting via their Facebook pages that they’re struggling to keep up with demand.
As of week 18 of the CUB dispute, more than $15,000 had been generously donated by the workers at the New Quay Promenade construction project at Docklands. More donations will continue to flood in from members of all unions until this dispute is resolved! n
fffTHE ETU > SUMMER 2016
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