DAIR Strike Ends Without Impacting Australian Vehicle Producers

Australian auto makers dodge a bullet, as workers at a parts maker end a strike after government umpire Fair Work Australia negotiates a settlement.

Workers at DAIR Industries in Dandenong in suburban Melbourne have voted to accept a payout cap of 104 weeks for workers whose jobs are eliminated. The company had wanted to freeze the cap at 52 weeks for long-term employees.

Victoria State Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Richard Dalla-Riva had warned the dispute could shut down production at GM Holden and Ford. DAIR makes rear bumper assemblies, foot brakes, clutch mechanisms, hood hinges, parking brakes and vehicle jacks for the auto makers.

Australian Workers Union Victorian Secretary Cesar Melhem tells the Australian Associated Press news agency all the site’s 140 workers have returned to work after agreeing to details of redundancy packages for long-serving employees.

“The majority of members were there, and they voted the deal up, so it's all back to normal,” Melhem is quoted as saying. “Our members are happy with the outcomes, so the car industry can continue producing cars and there won't be any threat to their operations.”

The agreement was reached after urgent conciliation talks at Fair Work Australia between DAIR, a wholly owned subsidiary of Autodom, and union representatives.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Victorian Secretary Leigh Diehm says the agreement will help provide workers with job security in a tough industry at a difficult time.

DAIR Operations General Manager Kevin Boyle tells reporters the 3-day strike hurt everyone involved.

“It's been damaging to everybody – the company financially and individuals financially,” he says. Boyle says the company lost about A$170,000 ($178,000) in sales a day.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Assistant State Secretary Leigh Diehm says if DAIR doesn’t have any redundancies there won’t be a problem.

“We just need to make sure,” he tells the Dandenong Leader newspaper. “You don’t know with the auto industry being quite volatile if there could be redundancies over the life of the agreement.”

Boyle says the dispute arose because the company had three different redundancy agreements after it consolidated the business. It had 67 employees capped at 40 weeks, 27 capped at 52 weeks and 500 uncapped.

“We were looking for equality,” he says. “If you stand next to someone and do the same job, we want everyone to have the same rights and benefits and wages.”