Four hundred AMWU members at Ford in Geelong and Broadmeadows have won significant improvements to apprentice intake quotas and other gains in a new collective agreement.
 
The agreement was reached after workers took protected industrial action during a drawn out bargaining period.
 
AMWU members took to the picket line in May, demanding better apprentice ratios, job security, wage increases, and a guarantee on entitlements in the event of redundancies.
 
This result is especially significant given Ford’s history of zero apprentice intake for the past three years, which it had proposed to continue over the next agreement. Ford has now agreed to take on 12 apprentices in 2011 and a further 6 apprentices in 2012.
 
In addition, Ford has agreed to overturn the original proposal to freeze fixed term and new tradespeoples’ wage rates at the base entry level of the trade classification structure.
 
These new improvements to the union collective agreement come on top of previous wins, including increased paid paternity leave from five to ten days; improved conditions while working in high temperatures; access to ten days training for Health and Safety representatives and Shop Steward representation for workers during the early stages of dispute settlement procedures.
 
AMWU organiser, Ian Thomas, says that the agreement has resulted in more job security for Ford workers and is a big win for apprentices in particular.
 
“It’s resulted in security of employment through the contractor clause. The apprentice intake is the best part of the agreement, along with the entry level wage rates.
 
“We got rid of the two-tiered wage system where new workers were started on a lower rate and didn’t get any pay rises out of the agreement until after they’d completed their first year of permanent employment, which would have lowered the hourly rate for any new people by up to $3 per hour”, he said.
 
According to AMWU Senior Delegate, Brad Pearson, while the agreement is improved many aspects of workers’ conditions at Ford, further improvements could still be made.
 
“As a result of taking industrial action we won a minimum guarantee of 18 apprentices over 2011-2012. Contractor consultation was greatly improved. The company had a proposal to freeze the wages of fixed term and new trades workers.
 
We got that removed from the agreement.
 
“Overall, it is a good agreement, apart from the wage increases. Ford is still not on par with Holden and Toyota in terms of workers’ wages, so there’s still plenty to fight for next time”, said Pearson.