KCA pay paperwork lodged

STRIKES HAVE STARTED: Industrial action in support of a new pay deal started yesterday at the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill.

THE paperwork has recently been lodged with the Fair Work Commission for a staggered 4.5pc pay rise and a $1000 cash payment for workers at the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill.

The new enterprise agreement documents were endorsed by Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Federal secretary Alex Millar and mill management.

CFMEU Millicent branch president Craig O’Connor said a date for a hearing had yet to be set.

“There is a backlog of enterprise agreements with the Commission,” Mr O’Connor said.

Ratification by the Fair Work Commission will give rank-and-file KCA employees their first pay rise since 2014

Once in place, the new enterprise agreement will cover pay and conditions at the plant until December 31, 2020.

The new deal was backed by a majority of workers in a secret ballot held last month.

Around two years ago, the company and the union had reached terms but the Fair Work Commission dismissed the application on technical grounds.

On reviewing the 55-page application for the new deal, the Fair Work Commissioner David Gregory discovered the Notice of Employee Representational Rights given to the employees to be covered by the agreement did not contain the correct telephone number for the Fair Work Commission Infoline.

As a result of this ruling, a fresh round of negotiations started.