Less FIFO, more rights for workers and communities

No-one can doubt that the mining boom is having an impact on all of us.

The high Aussie dollar is causing job losses in manufacturing. Employers are exploiting the opportunity to demand cuts to wages and conditions and the employment of more and more guest workers.

The jobs the big resource companies and governments promised would flow into Australian companies manufacturing plant equipment for the resource projects have not materialised. The resource companies are going overseas for these products, sometimes because it’s cheaper, but more often because the overseas-owned resource companies insist on using overseas products.

Unions insist on a more long-term approach: with a share of resources profits being invested in the future of this country, and employment for local workers and training ahead of temporary visas and contracts for migrant workers.

Hand in hand with the resources boom has been the growth of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) working arrangements.

The CFMEU accepts that FIFO – or bus-in, bus-out; drive-in, drive-out long distance commuting - may be a fact of life for some remote projects. But the Union is concerned at the growth in employer use of such arrangements, and, particularly, its impact on workers, their families and the communities involved.

The CFMEU believes that FIFO workers and their families should have the right to a decent lifestyle.

The House of Representatives Select Committee on Regional Australia is currently holding an Inquiry into ‘Fly-in, Fly-out’ and ‘Drive-in, Drive-out’ Work Practices, to which the CFMEU Construction and Mining Divisions have made a joint submission.

Key recommendations from the CFMEU Submission include:

  • An Impact Assessment process – similar to Environment Impact Assessments – whereby corporations have to prove a particular workplace can only operate with a FIFO workforce and impact on local communities, particularly in terms of infrastructure and services, is addressed and remedied
  • A uniform set of standards for Worker Accommodation Villages, including provision for extreme weather conditions
  • Access to modern digital technology in all accommodation, including internet, to enhance family communication and employer provision of access to such technology for workers
  •  Support for workers and families in stress because of FIFO arrangements
  • FIFO workers entitled to all workplace rights while on camp, including dispute resolution, OHS and access to assistance and advice from their  union
  • Worker consultation on rosters, with particular attention to fatigue and family considerations
  • Travel time is part of working hours and from point of usual residence
  • Corporations using FIFO contribute to apprenticeships and training.

An estimated $174 billion in funds is already committed to build new resource projects in Australia – mostly LNG, iron ore and coal – with over $200 billion more in the pipeline long-term.

No one can know how long the boom will last, but there’s no excuse for not making it work for all Australians, rather than for a few greedy executives and shareholders.

Australian manufacturing should not be killed off by the strength of demand for resources. Investment in building and general infrastructure needs to continue to maintain standards across the economy.

The wealth from the boom must benefit all, into the future.  Workers and their families must stand to gain by the boom, not see their rights and living standards eroded further.