The Whyalla steel works must be saved, at any cost

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have been watching this thread, as I recall several days ago that an Arrium employee claimed that wages were not that high and most earned $95K.
Now at the time i thought gee $95 K would be pretty good in a small town like Whyalla where houses should only be say 300K. ( unless of course it is like Karratha where houses were outrageous due to capapcity to pay)

So today in the Australian I read an Article by Robert Gottliebson which states the following.
QUOTE
Here some of the clauses that locked Arrium into administration in the event that the prices for its products fell:
? Wages levels are way above the award. An entry-level trade person begins at $120,476 and a level-5 tradie is on $160,631, with another increase to $165,450 due in March 2017. Production workers entry-level wage begins at $95,783 and tops out at $130,188.
Then there are the clauses that crippled flexibility and reduced management control:
? Union delegates are entitled to 10 days paid union training leave per year and afforded paid time, to ?interview a representative of the company on matters affecting employees?. This gives the union enormous power.
? Union notice boards are provided and the company cannot remove union notices unless special conditions apply.
? If the company restructures, and people are put into lower paying jobs, their old rate of pay is maintained forever, which cancels out the whole point of the exercise.
? If an employee with at least two years? service is declassified to a lower pay scale, not only do they stay on their old pay rate, but also the pay rate keeps rising in line with the rises due to the old rate for another two years.
? In the event the mine closes, redundancy pay is 4 weeks per year capped at 104 weeks.
? Where a redundancy is caused by innovation or mechanisation or new technology, the company must add an extra 3 months? notice or pay, on top of the two years.
? Arrium staff with a long-term, non-work related illness, for the purpose of ?added financial security?, are able to 'reasonably expect continued financial support? at their normal rates of pay for up to 12 months, and longer if they are expected to return shortly to the workplace.
QUOTE
The article also states that the banks suffered from "Groupthink" that made them make the stupid decision to loan billions to the company unsecured.

So should the rest of Australia support a company where the unions greed and spineless management has contributed greatly to its own demise?
Regards Philip A

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I have been wondering how long it would take for this sort of article to come out. I wonder what the union / Arium reply will be.


As I said in most of my posts, lets sort out the core issue before having an open cheque book response.


What a shame the management / boards entitle's / package deal wasn't included.


Cheers Ean

? If the company restructures, and people are put into lower paying jobs, their old rate of pay is maintained forever, which cancels out the whole point of the exercise.

this is quote common. company i work for has this condition



? In the event the mine closes, redundancy pay is 4 weeks per year capped at 104 weeks.

again, this is quote common. company i work for also has this condition


? Arrium staff with a long-term, non-work related illness, for the purpose of ?added financial security?, are able to 'reasonably expect continued financial support? at their normal rates of pay for up to 12 months, and longer if they are expected to return shortly to the workplace.


i'm pretty sure i have this condition too

PhilipA,....Brilliant post mate.
The problem is no-one wants to listen, but those are the same reasons why many companies have failed in Aus.
There is no way, that anyone is going to refinance anyone with that sort of "load" hanging around its neck.
A "Reality Check" is needed here, because, & I'll use a word that I've used MANY times,.... those figures are "UNSUSTAINABLE"....and it ain't just Arrium,...those sorts of "rorts" would be in the go in many companies......which is part of "Aussie's" problem. And, before the "flaming" starts, I know it ain't the whole problem, bad management, antiquated machinery, low commodity prices etc have all contributed.
And another issue that I saw on Facebook yesterday, Electricity costs are a large part of Arrium's costs,.....guess what, the cost of their electricity is FOURTH HIGHEST in the World!!...It all adds up.
Pickles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have been watching this thread, as I recall several days ago that an Arrium employee claimed that wages were not that high and most earned $95K.
Now at the time i thought gee $95 K would be pretty good in a small town like Whyalla where houses should only be say 300K. ( unless of course it is like Karratha where houses were outrageous due to capapcity to pay)

So today in the Australian I read an Article by Robert Gottliebson which states the following.
QUOTE
Here some of the clauses that locked Arrium into administration in the event that the prices for its products fell:
? Wages levels are way above the award. An entry-level trade person begins at $120,476 and a level-5 tradie is on $160,631, with another increase to $165,450 due in March 2017. Production workers entry-level wage begins at $95,783 and tops out at $130,188.
Then there are the clauses that crippled flexibility and reduced management control:
? Union delegates are entitled to 10 days paid union training leave per year and afforded paid time, to ?interview a representative of the company on matters affecting employees?. This gives the union enormous power.
? Union notice boards are provided and the company cannot remove union notices unless special conditions apply.
? If the company restructures, and people are put into lower paying jobs, their old rate of pay is maintained forever, which cancels out the whole point of the exercise.
? If an employee with at least two years? service is declassified to a lower pay scale, not only do they stay on their old pay rate, but also the pay rate keeps rising in line with the rises due to the old rate for another two years.
? In the event the mine closes, redundancy pay is 4 weeks per year capped at 104 weeks.
? Where a redundancy is caused by innovation or mechanisation or new technology, the company must add an extra 3 months? notice or pay, on top of the two years.
? Arrium staff with a long-term, non-work related illness, for the purpose of ?added financial security?, are able to 'reasonably expect continued financial support? at their normal rates of pay for up to 12 months, and longer if they are expected to return shortly to the workplace.
QUOTE
The article also states that the banks suffered from "Groupthink" that made them make the stupid decision to loan billions to the company unsecured.

So should the rest of Australia support a company where the unions greed and spineless management has contributed greatly to its own demise?
Regards Philip A

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I've been very quiet reading this thread and have very little to say about it.

However, that media article is not the most accurate.

Green Inking - Yes
Staff (not wages) and theres only ~250 staff - Get Illness support however, if unable to RTW are released as TPI.

The wages quoted... Only was ever achieved with HUGE amounts of OT - of which there is none/very little...


Aside from 3-4 people in this thread - most of you have no real idea of the impacts, the reason the company is where it is at the moment, or consequences of closing it.

And I am the most recent to leave the company - redundancy as of 1st April...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tombie

And I am the most recent to leave the company - redundancy as of 1st April...

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Sorry to hear that.

? If the company restructures, and people are put into lower paying jobs, their old rate of pay is maintained forever, which cancels out the whole point of the exercise.

Quote:

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this is quote common. company i work for has this condition



? In the event the mine closes, redundancy pay is 4 weeks per year capped at 104 weeks.

again, this is quote common. company i work for also has this condition


? Arrium staff with a long-term, non-work related illness, for the purpose of ?added financial security?, are able to 'reasonably expect continued financial support? at their normal rates of pay for up to 12 months, and longer if they are expected to return shortly to the workplace.

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Eevo you are indeed blessed.

To compare, when I was in the NSW government the conditions were.

Maximum of 52 weeks retrenchment . This applies to Feds also.

If there was a "spill" you had to apply for your old job and if you missed out you went onto the lower pay classification of the job you were assigned.

Sick leave AFAIR 2 weeks at full pay plus 2 weeks half pay.

Your conditions are one of the major problems with Australia and why we are priced out of many markets. Enjoy while you can.
Regards Philip A

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

Eevo you are indeed blessed.


Sick leave AFAIR 2 weeks at full pay plus 2 weeks half pay.

Your conditions are one of the major problems with Australia and why we are priced out of many markets. Enjoy while you can.
Regards Philip A

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blessed maybe. we work hard for it and our company make a profit. we have to remain competitive from a technical perspective.

every 24-36 months there is a reorg and usually 10 jobs go down to 9 or 8 jobs and we have to reapply.
if unsuccessful you can try and find another role in the company (which the company prefers) or take a package.


we get 15 days.
people in NZ get 5.


as much as i enjoy these conditions and work hard for them, i do agree.

BTW to see the executive remuneration for Arrium .
Google Arrium 2015 Annual Report .
This will be a PDF and to save your eyes I found it on page 35 of the Pdf.
The MD gets 1.4 Mill.
But the non exec directors seem to be well overpaid seeing the outcome at 173K for a few meetings a year, although they are liable if found to be trading while insolvent. That's why they called in a voluntary administrator.
Regards Philip A

Don't care what "excuses" anyone wants to hear,....We are TOO DEAR,....we cannot compete on World competivity,....and we will NEVER be able to do so, unless we realize that that the conditions that we think are "our right" in Aussie, are not "our right", but in today's reality, are a recipe for disaster,and if we continue to pursue such, which I have said many many times, will be proven as "UNSUSTAINABLE", but like I've said before, no-one wants to listen,.....but,.....maybe,......now,......as the chickens are coming home to roost,.......maybe someone will,.......before it's too late?.....But I don't think so. So,BE AFRAID.
Pickles.
Don't just be afraid, be VERY AFRAID, because what you are seeing now is just, "the beginning",.......it's about to get much worse, VERY much worse. Remember you rubbished me, for sure, BUT, remember,I said it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ferret

Sorry to hear that.

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Thank you...

It's a surreal environment here in Whyalla at the moment.

The entire city is united and are working to understand what the outcomes of "what happens next".

I'm comfortable with being made redundant - my role was "fully loaded" and I was unable to take any more work flow on. However, my role was able to be 'split up' and distributed amongst 4 other positions which had ability to broaden their scope.

These things happen! And as a home owner in town anything that can contribute to the success of restructuring and ongoing trading can only help.

The company is viable, if managed correctly and especially once its debt overhead is reduced.


Once people understand the specialised work Steel workers do, the risks faced and the knowledge required they can appreciate it more..

It's much more than "driving a truck", "pressing a button" or "pulling a lever".

The quality of products produced in Whyalla are second to none.

The mining side has done an amazing amount of work on cost per tonne reduction recently and are currently cash positive...

It's just that damn debt hanging over the company...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/04/582.jpg