Union workers at BAE Systems Australia walking off job over demand for 30 per cent wage rise

Workers at Adelaide’s naval shipyard are walking off the job of building the nation’s $45bn frigates over a huge pay claim.

More than 400 Osborne Naval Shipyard workers will walk off the job on Thursday morning, demanding a 30 per cent pay rise from their employer, BAE Systems Australia.

Escalating industrial action after a March strike, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) members will march from the Adelaide Riverbank footbridge to BAE’s Flinders St headquarters.

The union is demanding the pay rise over three years, with a 20 per cent increase in the first year, while BAE is sticking to a 12 per cent offer, also over three years.

The AMWU argues workers on the $45bn Hunter class frigate program are underpaid by an average 20 per cent, compared to shipbuilding industry counterparts.

“These are highly skilled workers. They are welders, boilermakers, electricians, fitters and riggers. SA BAE workers are sick of being treated as the poor cousin,” AMWU SA state secretary Stuart Gordon said

“BAE is offering just 12 per cent, while the industry rate has moved well beyond that. Workers are rightly demanding parity – no more, no less.”

AMWU members strike at Osborne Naval Shipyard. Picture: Supplied

But BAE says it is “negotiating an enterprise agreement that seeks to ensure improvements to wages and longer-term job security” for its employees.

“We continue to negotiate in good faith with the aim of achieving an outcome that balances reward and sustainability, to ensure value for money to the Commonwealth and taxpayer.

We will provide a further update when appropriate,” a BAE Systems Australia spokesman said.

The campaign poses the risk of delays like those caused to the Osborne-based Collins class submarine full-cycle docking program in 2024, when unions wrung an 18 per cent pay rise after a bitter campaign personally targeting ASC’s boss.

Defence Minister Richard Marles and Premier Peter Malinauskas holding the first cut piece of steel to be used on the first Hunter class frigate to be constructed at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

More than 400 AMWU workers walked off the job during a BAE staff meeting in March, joined by about 100 colleagues from the Australian Workers’ Union and Electrical Trades Union.

The similar 18-month campaign targeting Osborne Naval Shipyard neighbour ASC, which along with BAE will build Australia’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, centred on demands for wage parity with Western Australian counterparts.

A deal struck last November, that came into force in February, involved ASC trading off the wage increase for “shipyard control” and “boatshed recovery” – the latter needed to overcome delays on the Collins deep maintenance program.

At the time of the March strike, Defence Minister Richard Marles warned of significant pressure limiting upgrades of the Collins class submarines.

Originally published as Union workers at BAE Systems Australia walking off job over demand for 30 per cent wage rise