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Fuel prices to be locked in place
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Local legend Barry Whitehead emceed his 25th and final Latrobe City Australia Day awards at the weekend. Hundreds attended Australia Day events across the shire, celebrating our great nation. Photograph:Tom Hayes SHOWCASE COVERAGE - PAGES 6-9
Mill at standstill By KATRINA BRANDON
UP to 300 Maryvale Mill production team and the CFMEU remain locked out of the mill as negotiations on a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement are at a stalemate, with fears growing about the economic impact on the local community. Opal company negotiators are overseas, while workers remain keen to return to work, although some who were on leave or sick have retained their work privileges. The dispute began on Thursday, January 16 when Opal, according to the union, gave an hour’s notice to workers that they wouldn’t be returning to work until a new EBA was agreed upon. “They are all shattered that this has happened. We have always worked with the company,” CFMEU Maryvale Sub-Branch Secretary, Anthony Pavey, told the Express. “We had seven operators take a six-hour stoppage, and the company decided to give us one hour’s notice and locked us out. This is the first work stoppage by our members for over two decades. They want to talk about clauses that strip away all our rights and allow them to dictate terms at the drop of the hat,” he said. Since January 21, one hundred of the locked-out workers, who would have previously been working,
camped out at the mill during work hours (8am to 3pm) to establish a presence and show that they want to return to work. Opal said given the protected action and planned lockdowns by the CFMEU, it could not operate its paper production plant, and had been forced under the Fair Work Act to undertake a legal lockout. “Maryvale Mill’s operations have been severely impacted by the loss of wood supply from VicForests and the subsequent end to white paper manufacturing,” the company said. Opal said the terms and conditions from the previous enterprise agreements were no longer relevant in a more competitive market. “Clearly, Nippon Paper’s Opal has no regard for either their employees or other businesses and their employees,” Denise Campbell-Burns, the Pulp and Paper Worker District Secretary, said. “Like our members - who were given 60 minutes notice of the lockout - we understand these other companies were given no warning and were caught unprepared, leaving them and their employees blindsided by Opal’s directive.” Last week, the locked-out workers received support from the broader trade union movement, with the ACTU weighing in and the AMWU, Mining and Energy Union, and Victorian Trades Hall Council pledging support.
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At a mass meeting on January 20, the locked-out Opal workers vowed to stand firm and seek a fair deal that does not undermine their existing terms and conditions. Mr Pavey said all staff on approved sick or annual leave were revoked initially due to the lockout, but on January 23, the company was made to honour those on leave. Before honouring the approved leave, on January 23, Mr Pavey had told the Express: “The main negotiator is off to Europe as of today, so she isn’t even going to be here in the negotiations going forward. The company’s lawyer is unavailable for tomorrow’s (January 24) meeting. They don’t sound like they want to sort things out in a hurry”. “Now, it’s going to extend to other contractors and all the rest of them, who are going to lose their incomes and are going to be stood down. It’s going to be wide-reaching throughout the community,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we have a presence out there to let our employers know that we are sitting there wanting to return to work. We are just not going to be forced back to work in worse conditions. “They are just trying to drive their agenda, which has been the whole time.
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Continued - Page 4
VICTORIA will cap and lock fuel price rises in a cost-of-living shake up by the state government to help level the playing field between multinational fuel companies and Victorian families. Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Consumer Affairs, Nick Staikos met with tradies and apprentices at Victoria University Werribee campus to announce the government’s Fair Fuel Plan, which will require fuel companies to publicly report their fuel price changes the day before they are in effect - and lock in those prices for 24 hours. Consumers know fuel prices fluctuate all the time - sometimes multiple times a day. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission data also shows that in 2023, Melbourne motorists could have saved up to $333 a year from filling up at the lowest point of fuel price cycles by securing the best deal. The Fair Fuel Plan won’t change everything, but it’s one extra tool at families’ disposal to help them save at the servo, and another way to keep fuel companies transparent about the prices they set and the deals they promote.
Mandatory fuel price reporting and a new fuel finder UNDER the plan, the government will make it compulsory for the more than 1500 fuel retailers across the state to provide their pricing data in real time. This data will then feed directly into a new fuel finder feature on the Service Victoria app, giving Victorians the opportunity to shop around for the best deal when they’re ready to fill up. Currently, fuel price reporting in Victoria is voluntary and often patchy. While commercial price reporting websites exist, the Service Victoria fuel finder will include every fuel provider, won’t be advertiser funded, and will never promote one outlet over the other.
Prices set the day before and locked in for 24 hours THE fuel finder and mandatory reporting will support the next phase of the Fair Fuel Plan - to not only cap the number of fuel price rises to once a day, but to lock in those prices the day before, and freeze them for 24 hours. This means you’ll be able to check your local area for which service station is offering the best price throughout the next day, and when you arrive in the morning to fill up, there’ll be no surprises. Under the plan, the price at that outlet can’t rise at any time throughout that day, but there is not intended to be any limit to a company reducing its fuel price. New regulations and legislation will be required, and work is currently underway to determine an appropriate enforcement structure and penalties for fuel retailers. Government will consult with industry on implementation to get it right, and to ensure the scheme is fair and practical for smaller retailers. The Fair Fuel Plan will be phased in over 2025. The Service Victoria fuel finder will launch later this year and could save Victorian motorists hundreds of dollars a year at the bowser.