Victory at QCH

Submitted by martin on 2 October, 2012 - 9:02

On Tuesday 2 October the workers at the Queensland Children's Hospital site in Brisbane returned to work victorious after being on a community protest since 6 August.

Click here to hear Bob Carnegie speak about the victory

The main contractor, Abigroup, has conceded the workers' two central demands. The existing non-union enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) will be cancelled and replaced by a union EBA. And the new EBA will contain a subcontractors' clause ensuring the rate for the job for every worker on the site whatever subcontractor employs them.

The outstanding problem from the workers' point of view is that Abigroup has reserved its right to take legal action for damages against the union, against the officials, and against community protest leader Bob Carnegie.

Several things made a difference in this dispute:

• The workers' determination and solidarity, which kept them on the community protest for almost two months

• Strong organisation. Early on union officials received court orders to stay away from the site, which they obeyed. The workers invited in Bob Carnegie, a former Builders Labourers Federation organiser, to help lead the dispute. Bob defied court orders to stay away from the site, and helped ensure that there were regular democratic mass meetings; that the workers and their supporters were kept informed, both through the meetings and through leaflets; and that other workers were drawn into the leadership of the action.

• Solidarity. Maintaining the dispute required a major effort of collecting cash and supermarket vouchers from supporters to help hardship cases among the workers. Some socialists, including the Socialist Alternative group, did good work helping on this. Messages of support to the dispute from overseas, and the organisation of a protest in support of the workers at the London office of Lend Lease (Abigroup's parent company) also helped.

Other sites stopped work in solidarity with the dispute - early on, the major Grocon site in Brisbane, and later on Baulderstone sites across Australia. (Baulderstone is another subsidiary of Lend Lease).

More on the dispute here and here.

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