2
NEWS
Holden workforce agrees to EBA variation
Cost competitiveness to improve by $15 million a year, claims manufacturerEmployees paid award rates at Holden's South Australian and Victorian manufacturing plants have accepted a proposal by Holden to vary their enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).
In a press release issued late on Friday Holden declared that the vote for change was passed by "a strong majority." The next step requires the revised EBA be approved by the Fair Work Commission.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank Holden’s workforce for their loyalty and flexibility,” said Holden MD, Mike Devereux, as quoted in a press release. “Changes like this are never easy and the ‘yes’ vote is a huge commitment from the hard-working men and women of our Holden team.
“These labour-related cost savings and productivity improvements are crucial to putting our Elizabeth manufacturing facility on a path to global competitiveness.
“Australia is a high-cost country; not just for making cars but for making anything. It was critical that we reduced our costs and delivered flexible and contemporary work arrangements.”
Holden's Next Generation vehicle program, which relates to the manufactured products to follow the VF Commodore and current (MY14) Cruze, will see a $15 million operational cost saving per annum at the vehicle assembly plant based at Elizabeth in South Australia. That saving is entirely the result of the EBA variation just negotiated with the unionised workforce.
“We can’t survive as a local manufacturer unless we reduce our costs by being as efficient and globally competitive as possible,” commented Devereux. “There are some tough measures in this variation but the unions and our people recognise this difficult situation and have responded in kind.”
Talks with the unions were flagged back in June, and the union announced it would recommend to its workers they accept the change on Tuesday of last week. Workers at Elizabeth voted on Wednesday, but Holden wasn't in a position to announce the result until all its staff had voted (including the employees at the Port Melbourne engine plant) over subsequent days.
Holden has found itself in an invidious position, with Cruze and Commodore in the top ten most popular cars in the country, but the Cruze, in particular, has only achieved that result with profitability pared to the bone to compete with a weakening yen and a consistently strong Aussie dollar – although recent movements in the currency exchange rates have helped Holden's situation.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Don't forget to register to comment on this article.
Share this article
Written byCarsales Staff
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todayRelated articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.