1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960
Speaker 1: We received an email from a listener a little bit

2
00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:05,400
Speaker 1: earlier in the week about the situation at IMPEX after

3
00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:09,720
Speaker 1: changes were made before Christmas. It read, Hi, Katie, I'd

4
00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,119
Speaker 1: just like to give you an update on the trace

5
00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,520
Speaker 1: Monos changeover at INPEX. Well, the dust settled and for

6
00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,880
Speaker 1: the worst unfortunately, as you're aware, one of the biggest

7
00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,920
Speaker 1: issues was the roster, which caused a lot of people

8
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,759
Speaker 1: to move on and it's being proven now that they

9
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,280
Speaker 1: can't be replaced. Hence a new five FO workforce has

10
00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,520
Speaker 1: been established, which are being accommodated with a roster that's

11
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,159
Speaker 1: not available to locals. To rub salt into the wounds

12
00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,400
Speaker 1: all over, time has been slashed for locals, but not

13
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,640
Speaker 1: for five foes, according to this email from a listener,

14
00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,280
Speaker 1: and they say that means that five fos are guaranteed

15
00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,160
Speaker 1: an extra thirty four hours per week as opposed to locals.

16
00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,840
Speaker 1: These fivefos are cooped up at Bladon Village with no

17
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,880
Speaker 1: transportation other than work. Hence the money that they're earning

18
00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,400
Speaker 1: does not go back into our economy but instead into state.

19
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to talk a little

20
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,880
Speaker 1: bit more will tell it give us a bit of

21
00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,640
Speaker 1: an update I guess on this situation from the Electrical

22
00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,200
Speaker 1: Trades Union here in the Northern Territory. David Strabes Hayes,

23
00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:16,520
Speaker 1: Good morning Strawbes.

24
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:17,000
Speaker 2: How are you.

25
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,360
Speaker 3: Good morning Katie and good morning to the listeners.

26
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,720
Speaker 1: Now, what is the situation following on from those changes

27
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:24,760
Speaker 1: before Christmas?

28
00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,440
Speaker 2: From your perspective, Well.

29
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,600
Speaker 3: Katie, we obviously feared that this would be the case

30
00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 3: with the big changes that occurred out there, so trace

31
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,080
Speaker 3: they probably employed almost four hundred workers back last year

32
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,199
Speaker 3: and after the change, we see Monta Dolphus has probably

33
00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,200
Speaker 3: got about two hundred and thirty that have taken up

34
00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 3: new contracts. If I can talk to the Electrical Trades specifically,

35
00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,720
Speaker 3: we had about one hundred and five hundred and ten

36
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,920
Speaker 3: sparkies and we've got probably forty five who have taken

37
00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:56,680
Speaker 3: up the new roles at this point in time. So

38
00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:01,360
Speaker 3: it shows the offer that was on the table for

39
00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,960
Speaker 3: the site that they work on being a major has

40
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,799
Speaker 3: A facility was just not appropriate. And Monadelphus are absolutely struggling.

41
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:10,400
Speaker 3: If you look at cheap today or just had a

42
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:15,119
Speaker 3: quick look before, there's constant ads for every trade they're

43
00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,960
Speaker 3: looking to employ out there to make up the maintenance

44
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,480
Speaker 3: teams and what they've had to do, and that email

45
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,960
Speaker 3: is correct, is employee fi FO workers and we said

46
00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,400
Speaker 3: this would be the case, and this is what's occurring.

47
00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,360
Speaker 3: And so now we have the Impact gas plant, which

48
00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:36,000
Speaker 3: its original commitment was to have local employees on that job,

49
00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,400
Speaker 3: and due to the conditions that they're offering to their

50
00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,079
Speaker 3: maintenance workforces, it's just not appropriate and people have gone elsewhere.

51
00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,160
Speaker 1: And so Strobes by the sounds of it, they're like, you've,

52
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 1: like we've just discussed they're not able to fill some

53
00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,560
Speaker 1: of those jobs. People have gone now elsewhere and so

54
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,520
Speaker 1: now based on that email that I'm reading, it sounds

55
00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,320
Speaker 1: as though they're flying people in and the people that

56
00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,480
Speaker 1: are flying in have got better working can ditions and

57
00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:01,519
Speaker 1: the locals.

58
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, it can be looked at that way because the

59
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,360
Speaker 3: fire FIO is obviously, if you're in a five FO job,

60
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,120
Speaker 3: you want to be at work when you're away from home.

61
00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,000
Speaker 3: So the fire FI employees are doing twelve hour days

62
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,840
Speaker 3: and you know, seven days a week, whereas the rest

63
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,040
Speaker 3: of the cruise are on a Monday to Friday roster

64
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,560
Speaker 3: ten hour day. So there's a big difference in what

65
00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,880
Speaker 3: they take home each week, and yeah, we're having sort

66
00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,760
Speaker 3: of a two tiered works or starting to occur out there,

67
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:31,960
Speaker 3: and it's not it's not going to fare well in

68
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,840
Speaker 3: the long term, you know, the just the pure backlog

69
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:41,000
Speaker 3: of maintenance works that is growing because they just have

70
00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,080
Speaker 3: not got the people to do the work out there,

71
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,320
Speaker 3: you know, and that there's only a matter of time

72
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,480
Speaker 3: before that comes a problem for the plane itself.

73
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,880
Speaker 1: And so where too from nit here or you know

74
00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,240
Speaker 1: what is like what's going to happen next?

75
00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,000
Speaker 3: So Katie is part of part of the agreements. Last

76
00:03:58,080 --> 00:03:59,920
Speaker 3: year there would be there was a roster review that

77
00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:05,640
Speaker 3: to be undertaken. That review was undertaken and completing February

78
00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:10,480
Speaker 3: March this year, there was no change. No change was

79
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,320
Speaker 3: the outcome. So Monday to Friday roster was going to

80
00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,800
Speaker 3: be maintained the Monodelphus contractor. So that has seen further

81
00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:23,279
Speaker 3: people leave. But we have just entered into beginning enterprise

82
00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,640
Speaker 3: bargaining negotiations with Monodelphus and obviously our claim, our main

83
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,120
Speaker 3: claim on the table is in relation to rosters and

84
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,440
Speaker 3: the work working conditions out of that plant. So this

85
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,080
Speaker 3: process will be undertaken. Now they've got no success with

86
00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,920
Speaker 3: their roster review. And whether that's an Impect's decision or

87
00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,479
Speaker 3: a Monadelphis decision, they both buying each other. But we're

88
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,520
Speaker 3: going into a bargaining process to now to try and

89
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,200
Speaker 3: achieve some decent working conditions on that plant for these

90
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,160
Speaker 3: you know, and we've done this before, Katie, when we

91
00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,760
Speaker 3: were doing trace a few years ago, to have these

92
00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,880
Speaker 3: people recognized and remunerated for working on a major hazard facility.

93
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,160
Speaker 3: The skills they bring to that plant, the safe operations

94
00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:05,640
Speaker 3: and the whole lot and the support the contractors give

95
00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,039
Speaker 3: to the impacts teams on a daily basis to keep

96
00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:10,760
Speaker 3: that facility running in a safe manner.

97
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:12,920
Speaker 1: So at this point in time, like, do you have

98
00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,719
Speaker 1: any idea how many of those jobs sort of need

99
00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,080
Speaker 1: to be filled or what kind of percentage of the

100
00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,000
Speaker 1: workforce is being taken up by locals, and just how

101
00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:23,560
Speaker 1: many we've got flying in and out.

102
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, at the moment, I believe there's about thirty five

103
00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,680
Speaker 3: those at the moment, and so and they're constantly advertising

104
00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,000
Speaker 3: for more because they just have not got the people.

105
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,520
Speaker 3: They can't attract any more local labor and the outcome

106
00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,400
Speaker 3: of these EBA negotiations, but also there's there's there's trades

107
00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:44,839
Speaker 3: people out there who are waiting to see if we

108
00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:49,520
Speaker 3: can achieve some decent conditions, and if we can't in

109
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,760
Speaker 3: this in this bargaining process, those people will leave as

110
00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,560
Speaker 3: well and will end up with a full five potentially

111
00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,080
Speaker 3: a full FIVEFO or a larger FIFO workforce out on

112
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,479
Speaker 3: that plant. And that is just not what Daren needs,

113
00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,359
Speaker 3: you know. Yeah, a man of the spin off of

114
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,279
Speaker 3: having you know, four hundred families employed out of that plant,

115
00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,200
Speaker 3: living in the community, doing the whole lot spending money.

116
00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,160
Speaker 3: We need that in the MT We're trying to grow

117
00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:19,760
Speaker 3: the NT and these decisions that were made November December

118
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,520
Speaker 3: last year are having an absolute detriment on the economy

119
00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:25,640
Speaker 3: and it's only going to get worse unless we can

120
00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:26,279
Speaker 3: turn it around.

121
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, are you confident that there's going to be an

122
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,599
Speaker 1: ability to turn it around? Strabs, because look, I know

123
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:33,960
Speaker 1: there's going to be some people listening this morning going, oh, well,

124
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,280
Speaker 1: for you know, the union's always going to pretend that

125
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,520
Speaker 1: it's worse than what it is. But the fact here is,

126
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,840
Speaker 1: like I know people that work out there, and from

127
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,279
Speaker 1: my understanding, they did have to have a change in

128
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,440
Speaker 1: working conditions as we've discussed before Christmas and has sort

129
00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,880
Speaker 1: of flowed through earlier in the year. And I like

130
00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:56,760
Speaker 1: I myself, would prefer to see locals working here and

131
00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,680
Speaker 1: making sure that that money is kept. You know, here

132
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,800
Speaker 1: in Northern Territory economy, we're trying to grow the population.

133
00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:04,880
Speaker 2: We want this place to thrive.

134
00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,920
Speaker 1: Having the five FI workforce is not something that we'd

135
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,120
Speaker 1: ever really been told was going to happen.

136
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,960
Speaker 3: No, that's correct, Katie. And the options are out there

137
00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,840
Speaker 3: for skilled workers to go elsewhere and earn decent money.

138
00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,280
Speaker 3: And you know, you've got Darwin, L and G down

139
00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,040
Speaker 3: the road doing their works and a lot of guys

140
00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,720
Speaker 3: are gone down there. You've got the fuel facility, the

141
00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,840
Speaker 3: US skill facility out there. A lot of guys went

142
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,920
Speaker 3: on for that job. And people are now going themselves.

143
00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,560
Speaker 3: Daring locals are working over in the Pilbar and places

144
00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,800
Speaker 3: like that. They don't really want to, but it's not

145
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,000
Speaker 3: worth their while for the skills that they have, where

146
00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,720
Speaker 3: they can earn provide for their families and earn better

147
00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,480
Speaker 3: money in other places, and they're taking those options at

148
00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:48,840
Speaker 3: this point in time. But look, we're came to work

149
00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,720
Speaker 3: with Mono Delphus obviously and impacts to try and get

150
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:54,680
Speaker 3: back to where we were so we can attract and

151
00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:57,520
Speaker 3: retain a local workforce on that plant. The plant's going

152
00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,680
Speaker 3: to be there for a long time and we need

153
00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,160
Speaker 3: to have skills in the MP Yeah.

154
00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:08,320
Speaker 1: Well. Electrical Trade Union NT organizer David Strabes Hayes always.

155
00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:09,000
Speaker 2: Appreciate your time.

156
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:10,800
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having your chat with us

157
00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:12,400
Speaker 1: and let us know how things progress.

158
00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:15,560
Speaker 3: No, we definitely will Coadian. Thanks for your interests.

159
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,880
Speaker 2: As always, no worries, Thank you, Thanks so much,