DAIR Industries Dispute Assignment Help
DAIR Industries Dispute:
DAIR Industries is an automobile part and component supplier based in South East Melbourne. The business was form in 2001 as the Australian automotive sector was rapidly emerging during the time. The main customers of the company are Toyota, Holden and Ford (SEMMA, 2013). DAIR Industries manufactures automobile parts including rear bumper, foot brakes and clutch mechanisms.
In August 2012, an industrial dispute started at DAIR Industries factory in South Dandenong over some of the terms of the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. There was total of about 140 workers that were involved in the incident, whom were covered by the Australian Workers Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. The new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement allows a small annual wage increase of between 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent. The new agreement was also set out to equalize the wage rate differences for workers that perform the same work. This was all necessary as there were workers that were transferred from other plants to DAIR in Dandenong and they were kept on their previous enterprise agreement, hence there were wage differences among them. According to Peter Byrne (Semma, 2012), wages of machine operators can vary from $16.70 to $21.50 an hour.
Though this was not the issue that caused the strike, the main reason that triggered the incident was because of the capped redundancy payouts as a decision of the DAIR’s management. Previously, most of the employees had uncapped redundancy entitlements; their payouts were based on how long they had work at the company. However, other workers that were transferred from other plants whom were kept on their previous enterprise agreement could only receive their payouts of 40 to 52 weeks wage equivalent maximum. Being a part and component supplier for other car manufacturers, stopping the production line means these car manufacturers would be affected as well. The incident was said to cause an estimate 4000 workers being stood down at Ford and Holden plants (Lucas, 2012). The potential damages of the strike were so severe that DAIR Industries’ manager Kevin Boyle had to apply the industrial umpire to hopefully put an end to the dispute (Lucas, 2012).
The dispute ended within one week as the management of DAIR Industries and the unions, which represented the workers, had a conciliation session at Fair Work Australia. More than 100 workers voted to accept the new pay deal offered by the management of DAIR Industries (Neil. C, 2012). The new pay deal allows workers to a 104 weeks capped redundancy pay, instead of 40 to 52 weeks previously (Neil. C, 2012). There were other industrial disputes in the past that went on for months; although the DAIR Industries dispute ended shortly, the potential damages could have been very serious. The ripple effect that started at DAIR Industries could potentially shut down automotive manufacturers in the whole Australia, and thousands of other workers would be affected indirectly (Neil. C, 2012).
After the dispute has ended, Victorian Manufacturing Minister Richard Dalla-Riva criticised the strike, which was led by the union. He stated that the former Australian Workers Union chief, Bill Shorten had the power to end the strike, though he did not do so (Lucas, 2012). Clearly, Richard Dalla-Riva thinks that the now Workplace Relations Minister, Bill Shorten was biased towards the employees and unions in this case. Bill Shorten on the other hand believed that all parties would eventually come to a resolution through their goodwill (Lucas, 2012). It seems that the Victorian Industrial Relations Minister Richard Dalla-Riva had stood on DAIR Industries’ side, evidently by saying that the State Government would support the application by DAIR Industries to the Fair Work Australia in hope of ending the dispute. The state secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Cesar Melhem described Richard Dalla-Riva’s decision of joining the manufacturer’s side as “pointless and contributing nothing to the resolution of the dispute”. Also disagreeing with Richard Dalla-Riva was the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, its Victorian assistant secretary Leigh Diehm also said that instead of making trouble, he should be looking for a solution to the standoff (Lucas, 2012).
The fact that the Victorian Industrial Relations Minister Richard Dalla-Riva stood on DAIR Industries’ side had created disappointment for the employees, and more specifically both the unions. It was also the fact that Richard Dalla-Riva said that Bill Shorten had the power to end the dispute, but did not do so, clearly it seems that he did not want to negotiate with the employees at all and was hoping that Bill Shorten would end the dispute with his power in hand. An article from The Age stated that the Victorian secretary of Australian Workers Union Cesar Melhem praised the Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten as being fair for taking both sides to help them to reach the end result. Bill Shorten on the other hand criticised the Victorian Government for not attending the conciliation at Fair Work Australia while only talked about how severe the problem could potentially be. Some of Bill Shorten’s statements were “They (Victorian Government) were very quick to issue press releases about how dreadful this dispute was”, following “Why didn’t the Victorian government attend today’s conciliation hearings?” (The Age, 2012). From some of Bill Shortens statements, it was obvious that he criticized the Victorian government for not showing any kinds of support to the dispute and only talked about how big of a problem the Australian automotive industry could potentially face. It was Cesar Melhem, who also criticized the Victorian government for not helping at all and only attributing the blames. He said, “It’s a real disgrace, it’s a real shame about this state government, because they haven’t got a clue”, “He comes out, criticise the workers, criticize the union, instead of picking up the phone and [saying] ‘how can I help to resolve this dispute?’” (ABC, 2012).
I think it is well said of Bill Shorten, as well as Cesar Melhem’s criticisms towards the Victorian Government (The Australian, 2013). The government clearly knew the ripple effect that the dispute could potentially cause to the two major car manufacturers Ford and Holden. They even mentioned that if the dispute were to continue, it could cause up to 4000 workers stood down from other plants. The problem to the situation then would be even more severe, and yet the Victorian government did not seem to care to even attend to the conciliation or show any kinds of help.
On an interview with employees of DAIR Industries by Peter Byrne, some employees said all they did was to protect and keep what they already have, they were not asking for more. One of the employees on the interview said that it is unpredictable of the car industry and if they were to go overseas, the workers may lose everything. The redundancy entitlements are all they have if they were to be laid off by the company, which they constantly being stressed to (Byrne, 2012). It seems reasonably fair that employees should deserve what they ask for, as it was said that many of similar companies in the industry have also laid off their employees in recent years, and the redundancy entitlements would secure them and their families’ lives.
From what we can see and understand of the DAIR Industries dispute, the ideological perspective of the situation would fall into pluralism. In pluralism philosophy, the power is equally distributed among the parties; therefore no individual party is stronger than another. The role of the state even though theoretically said to protect the weak and restraint the strong, however in this case, the Victoria government did not seem to show any actions towards resolving the dispute. It is also one of the management’s roles in pluralism perspective to reconcile any conflicts that they can possible handle. The management of DAIR Industries had obviously found that the conditions that workers asked for were simply unacceptable; hence unions representing the employees were involved in order to seek for compromise. The ideological perspective on employment relationship of majority industries in Australia, as well as many developed countries are based on pluralism. It is in my opinion a relationship that provides an equal bargaining power, no individual party would be more or less superior to another.
References
Lucas. C, 2012, ‘4000 jobs on line amid Ford, Holden industrial dispute’, viewed on 25th Sep 2013, <http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/4000-jobs-on-line-amid-ford-holden-industrial-dispute-20120810-23zoy.html>
The Australian. (2013), ‘Deal offered to end DAIR car parts dispute’, viewed on 22nd Sep 2013 <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/deal-offered-to-end-dair-car-parts-dispute/story-e6frg6nf-1226448622227>
Semma. (2013), ‘DAIR Dandenong Pty Ltd’, Available from: http://www.semma.com.au/members/view/id:807/title:DAIR+Dandenong+Pty+Ltd
Neil. C, 2012, ‘DAIR to retain workers’, viewed on 22nd Sep 2013 <http://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/star/2012-11-08/dair-to-retain-workers/>
The Age. (2012) “DAIR auto workers reach deal, end dispute” viewed on 25th Sep 2013 <http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/dair-auto-workers-reach-deal-end-dispute-20120813-243gn.html>
Byrne. P, 2012, ‘Australian government intervenes to shut down DAIR strike’, viewed on 24th Sep 2013 <http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/08/dair-a13.html>
The ABC. (2012), ‘Union seeks end to car parts strike’, accessed on 29th Sep 2013 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-12/union-seeks-end-to-car-parts-strike/4193204>
