Holden pay deal "reasonable"

Holden Chairman and CEO Mike Devereux has defended a new wage deal for workers at the carmaker's Elizabeth production line as "reasonable" and slammed mass media coverage that depicted workers would get up to 22 per cent wage rises.

Speaking in a last minute media phone hook-up Tuesday afternoon, Devereux was in damage control following news stories in The Australian and other news sources which stated Holden workers would receive rises of between 18 and 22 per cent over three years.

He said Holden was "disappointed" with the coverage and stated that the nascent agreement had been misrepresented.

The Australian's report quoted union officials which categorised the new wage deal as "spectacular".

The news of the "wage hike" comes on the back of job losses at Elizabeth and long and strong campaign by Holden for the Federal Government to boost its "co-investment" in the Australia automotive industry. It's likely to attract political comment too as the Federal Opposition questions the Government's decision to continue to support the local auto industry.

Devereux stated Holden would not normally talk about the agreement ahead of its ratification by workers and Fair Work Australia, however, it seems the hostile news coverage forced his hand.

The wages agreement, which is yet to be concluded, replaces Holden's Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) with Australian Manufacturing Workers Union that expired in November 2011. Holden expects it to be finalised in March (2012).

Holden execs disputed The Australian's claims that workers would receive rises of over 20 per cent.

According to Holden's Executive Director HR, Mark Polglaze, the new deal comprises a three per cent pay rise for each of the next three years. In addition a one-off payment to recognise the wage reductions Holden workers voluntarily agreed to during the GFC will be made. A further variable wage component of "up to two per cent" may be awarded based on productivity, financial and quality targets being met.

Devereux stated: "What we’re talking about here is a fairly innovative deal that both rewards hardship that has been endured [by our workforce] during the GFC and also rewards the creativity and the productivity of our workforce... So that when we win as Holden, all of our workforce wins as well with variable pay."

According to Polglaze: "...Really, what we would say is [this is] a conservative level of base pay increase of three per cent per year over a three-year agreement. That is sub-national average wage rises, sub-CPI increases and sub auto industry comparison.

"On top of that, we have introduced some one-off bonus payments through the life of the agreement which recognised the hardship that our employees experienced throughout the global financial crisis."

According to Polglaze, Holden assembly line employees voluntarily experienced "somewhere between 25 and 43 per cent reduction" in their pay for as long as 18 months during the last EBA. The payments are understood to be lump sums -- $1750 in year one and $1000 in each of the two remaining years under the agreement.

"...We’ve [also] introduced a variable pay component... for the achievement of company metrics related to our financial performance, the quality of our vehicles and the productivity that we can increase in the plant," he stated.

Holden boss Devereux commented: "...What we’re trying to do here is we want everybody thinking for the long term in terms of Holden’s viability and success -- for not just the next couple of years of this agreement but out past 2020...

"This deal actually goes a long way towards doing that, by aligning everybody to wanting to have the most efficient and productive use of each hour of labour and each hour of labour we apply to vehicles."

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