INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Victorian smelter given five-year reprieve, saving 500 jobs and stabilising power grid

The Federal Government has thrown a lifeline to Alcoa’s aluminium smelter in Portland, Victoria, announcing that it will stay open until 2026, saving 500 jobs, following an agreement with energy retailers. The smelter accounts for 14 percent of jobs in the area.

The Government will provide up to $76.8 million over four years to secure Portland’s participation in the Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) scheme and help Victoria keep the lights on at times of peak demand. The Portland smelter, the state’s largest energy consumer, will reduce its energy demand at peak times, making more electricity available to the grid. Alcoa will be compensated.

The agreement will help strengthen the Victorian electricity grid, which has been subjected to increased fragility following the exit of the Hazelwood coal-fired plant in 2017 and the rapid uptake of intermittent renewables.

National employer organisation Ai Group welcomed the news but said longer-term reform was needed.

“The deals with the Federal Government, the Victorian Government, and several energy businesses to extend the life of the Portland smelter by five years will ease the fears of businesses and workers not just in Portland, but in supply chains that extend across the state and beyond,” said chief executive Innes Willox

“There is never a good time for a major industrial closure. But with Australia’s recovery from the pandemic recession still taking root this would be the worst of times.

“The pandemic has also brought greater consciousness of the need for economic resilience, including both trusted international supply chains and the capacity to make core products within Australia. A functional industrial base has a value well beyond its share of GDP. Losing more of our aluminium output would not only have consequences for exports, but also for the security of supply chains for many other products.

“Aluminium is important to our economy and way of life. But so are steel, glass, bricks and many other energyintensive materials and products. The challenges facing Portland are not unique: ageing facilities, fading of the old coal and gas advantage and relatively high emissions make it hard to attract investment in a market awash with competitors.

“The five years’ breathing space this deal buys can’t be wasted.

“Power prices are down for now as cheap renewables boom, but prices could easily sawtooth from slump to surge if the accelerating closures of old coal generators aren’t managed well. Gas prices are rebounding from last year’s lows, and alternatives like hydrogen will need much more deployment to become affordable. Upgrading and expanding industry to become low, zero, or negativeemissions needs ambitious and investment-grade policy.

“If we don’t solve these problems, government rescues will not be able to hold back the tide of closures.

“Governments, regulators and industry need to redouble our efforts to build a new energy advantage for a net zero emissions world. Reforming our energy markets and getting our climate policies right can secure not just the survival of our energy intensive industries, but strong, secure and sustainable growth,” Mr Willox said.

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A watered-down Industrial Relations Omnibus Bill passed in the Senate

by Annamarie Reyes

A reduced version of the much debated Industrial Relations Omnibus bill reforms was passed in the Senate on 18 March 2021 in the lead up to the end of the JobKeeper scheme in March.

There were mixed reactions from employer groups, business and workers with the current form of the Omnibus bill.

The peak employer Ai Group welcomes the bill saying that there is now “a clear definition of a casual employee”.

Ai Group also welcomes the “protection against unfair 'double-dipping' claims that would have imposed costs of up to $39 billion on employers and led to widespread business closures and mass job losses”.

Ai Group also acknowledges that there is still work to do over the coming months to secure full support for the changes.

In particular they raised issues to do with “an enterprise agreement withering on the vine because of an unworkable Better Off Overall Test and Fair Work Commission approval process”.

The peak employer group was joined by the Australian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Australia, Australian Mines and Metals Association and Master Builders Australia in their position with the changes.

They called for further review of an “award system that is far too complex and inflexible,” as well as “the lost opportunity for project life greenfields agreements” to drive investment and jobs.

However workers and union advocates from the mining, metal, plumbing and electrical sectors are calling for Australian workers “not to be run over by the omnibus” leading a ‘Stop the Bus’ campaign.

They say the laws passed will allow employers to determine who is a casual employee. This will mean that workers who seek conversion to full-time have no capacity to challenge a refusal in the Fair Work Commission.

Advocates for the construction sector, CFMEU, says that if it wasn’t defeated the Government’s proposed greenfields agreements would’ve locked workers into substandard wages and conditions for as long as eight years.

Allen Hicks, ETU National Secretary says Australian workers did their part to keep the economy strong through the Covid-19 crisis, and it is shameful that workers in the retail, transport and logistics, maritime and construction industries are negatively affected in the passing of the IR reforms.

“The pandemic has shone a spotlight on just how precarious employment can be for too many people in this country. We have also seen that essential workers include not only nurses, aged care workers, paramedics and health professionals, but also the workers in the retail, transport and logistics, maritime and construction industries that keep the economy moving and supplies flowing when times are tough.”

When Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government first held industry and business consultations with the sector in May 2020, the Federal Government established five working groups targeted for IR reforms – casual and fixed term employment, award simplification for those impacted by Covid-19, enterprise agreements process, compliance and enforcement and Greenfields agreements for new enterprises.

Meanwhile Federal Opposition leader Anthony Albanese launched a Unions NSW report “Wage Theft The Shadow Market: Report” providing evidence of wage theft in particular among farm workers.

Among the report’s key findings are case studies of underpayment among farm workers; where 96% of jobs are offering piece rate wages, which do not allow workers to earn the national minimum wage. The wage rates include a $2 per hour rate.

Mr Albanese addressing the newly passed IR reform bills says there’s a need for government to urgently address acute needs of the agricultural sector to make sure farm workers are protected and produce is harvested.

“There are many farmers out there overwhelmingly who are doing the right thing and if you allow exploitation to occur you are putting them at a competitive disadvantage. Which is why the government needs to respond to this report and why farmers organisations need to respond as well,” concludes Mr Albanese.

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Ai Group welcomes extension of apprenticeship program

National employer association Ai Group has welcomed the Australian Government's recent announcement that it was extending the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program.

The association’s chief executive, Innes Willox, said that the extension would provide further support to the youth labour market, which has been most adversely impacted by Covid-19.

"At the start of the pandemic we saw thousands of apprentices laid off and a nose-dive in apprentice commencements. This led to predictions of a 50% increase in school leavers not in employment, education or training,” he said.

"Ai Group called at the time for urgent government support for apprentices and trainees. The Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program which followed was an overwhelming success, benefitting more than 100,000 apprentices and trainees.

"The new funding announced today will consolidate the gains and enable more employers to take on their usual annual intake of apprentices and trainees, and in many instances increase apprenticeship numbers.

Innes Willox - Chief Executive at Australian Industry Group (Ai Group)

"Even more young people will now have the opportunity to gain meaningful employment in what will often be their first job.

"The program will support the creation of a strong pipeline of skills to help lift the economy out of the Covid downturn," said Mr Willox.

Ai Group 1300 55 66 77 aigroup.com.au

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Fearless robot labourers headed to a space station near you

A startup company that aims to develop general-purpose robots for space stations, the surface of the Moon and Mars has attracted the attention of Epson and its subsidiary, Epson X Investment Corporation, who will provide funding.

GITAI, based in Japan, aims to lessen the risk and burden on astronauts, and dramatically decrease the overall cost of transportation and training when it comes to space labour. It will also offer Raas (Robots as a Service).

The startup realised that with space development increasing, including resource development on the surface of the Moon, additional Mars exploration missions, and the commercialisation of the International Space Station (ISS), there would also be increased requirements for labour in space. That labour would be involved in the construction of new space stations and bases on the Moon and Mars, as well as the removal of debris.

Epson will investigate the applicability of a variety of GITAI’s core technologies, including to robotic solutions, will dispatch engineers to GITAI, and will actively promote open innovation through personnel exchanges.

GITAI’s robots will work inside and outside space stations. They will be involved in docking, lifespan-increasing efforts, repair work, and maintenance work for orbital services (increasing the lifespan of satellites and removing debris). They will also be used in exploration and base development on the Moon.

Epson X Investment Corporation is a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) firm wholly owned by information equipment and precision instrument manufacturer Seiko Epson Corporation. It established the EP-GB Investment Limited Partnership with independent venture capital firm Global Brain Corporation, an independent venture capital firm specialising in CVC management, and participates in investment activities.

A technical demonstration of the capability of the robots to do general labour is scheduled to take place on the ISS in the northern summer this year.

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