UNIONS Will Launch Industrial Action Targeting The State Government and ForestrySA

UNIONS are warning they will launch industrial action targeting the State Government and ForestrySA if an agreement cannot be reached between timber processor Carter Holt Harvey and the State Government to lower the price of logs. Speaking to The Border Watch yesterday afternoon, Mount Gambier CFMEU official Brad Coates warned the union's 700 strong Carter Holt Harvey membership could be taking to the streets as early as next week. The union has been involved in negotiations for the past six weeks. Mass meetings with hundreds of workers were held yesterday morning and on Wednesday after employees were told by the company that their jobs were no longer safe. Around 1000 positions with the company have been placed in jeopardy, while up to another 5000 are thought to be at risk from a flow-on effect. Mr Coates said the CFMEU and other trade unions were supporting Carter Holt Harvey in its demands to lower the price of logs supplied by ForestrySA. "The union position is to try and bring the parties back together again to get a positive outcome and to get government to move on their position on lowering the price of logs, " Mr Coates said. "The negotiations have reached a point where both sides are probably getting frustrated. " Mr Coates said the union had already rejected an offer by the State Government for financial assistance to the struggling timber processor. "We believe that the log prices are too high and we've been campaigning against log prices across the country for the past 10 years, " Mr Coates said. "We don't believe a hand-out is actually going to fix the problem - I'm firmly with the company on that. " Mr Coates said the union was now considering whether it would launch a 24-hour work stoppage for members at CHH mills for a possible protest outside the ForestrySA offices on Jubilee Highway. "The members are really angry because they know that the industry is struggling and that the markets are under pressure, " he said. "They've been making sacrifices for the last 12 to 18 months taking forced leave and there's basically been no overtime - people are already hurting in the back pocket and we're already dealing with members today who recently signed contracts for houses or cars and they're in a pretty sad state because they're not sure if they will have a job. " Mr Coates said issues affecting Carter Holt Harvey were market-based. "Whilst the forward sale is the elephant in the room the issues are firmly high log costs, the high Australian dollar, the contraction of the construction market and the increase in the importation of structural timber, " he said. "I don't think ForestrySA are blameless in this either, they're the ones who have been setting the log prices over the last five years, which has put 1000 jobs in jeopardy here in the South East. " He said the price of logs had doubled in South Australia since 2005. "Since then the market has changed - the tsunami is about to hit, " he said. Source: borderwatch