Horrific Heinemann : Melbourne Indymedia

Hasn't Heinemann, the electrical switchboard manufacturer sunk to a new low? The South African-owned electrical company is in dispute with the Electrical Trades Union over a new enterprise agreement in which the union is seeking wage increases and most importantly, security of current employee entitlements. So what did the company do? It refused to pay workers for five days of work simply because those workers knocked back over-time. And despite Kevin Andrews saying otherwise in the media, over-time is not compulsory. More importantly, in what country can you go to work for a week and be told you are not going to get paid?
'Since the South African owner CBI (Circuit Breaker Industries) took control of the plant in recent years, the workplace has degenerated into one in which workers are subjected to workplace bullying in one of the worst management styles I have ever seen,' ETU Branch Secretary Dean Mighell told the media at a rally outside the plant on Thursday 7 September.
'Australian workplaces are degenerating into slave and master relationships which may well suit these South African owners but the ETU will not let Australian workers be treated this way,' he went on to tell workers. With the media swarming over the issue, Heinemann and their legal mates at Freehills have been exposed. If this doesn't put a nail in Howard's coffin what will? Going by the spirit of workers at the rally the tide is turning against Howard.