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EXCLUSIVE Secrets of deal Holden wants staff to sign

News Corp has received a leaked copy of the deal that Holden wants workers to sign.

Holden workers will have their “smoko” breaks cut, be banned from taking any more than two sick days a year without a medical certificate and get sacked for “inefficiency” under harsh new conditions the company wants them to sign.

Despite receiving close to $2 billion in taxpayer funding over the past 12 years — and getting access to a fresh pool of $200 million to combat the damage caused by changes to Fringe Benefits Tax — Holden has asked its workers to go down to the wire to save another $15 million a year in production and labour costs.

In addition to the loss of a 3 per cent pay rise for each of the next three years — which amounts to a pay cut because it means Holden workers won’t keep up with the average 2.5 per cent rate of annual inflation — production line staff will also be subject to regular drug tests, including blood samples if initial saliva and breath tests prove positive.

News Corp has received a leaked copy of the deal that Holden wants workers to sign. The votes are due to be counted next Tuesday afternoon and will help determine whether Holden builds cars until 2022 — or shuts shop in late 2016.

The detailed 30-page amendment to the original 178-page workplace agreement makes for tough reading even for the most hardened of Holden workers.

New conditions workers can be sacked for — under the clause Termination for Serious Misconduct — includes “inefficiency”. But the documents don’t specify what Holden classifies as inefficient.

Under the new deal Holden will all but dictate when workers take their holidays. “All employees will be required to take annual leave during the annual (Christmas to New Year) shutdown,” the revised agreement says.

In addition, workers “must maintain sufficient annual leave balances” for other shutdown periods caused by a drop in vehicle demand throughout the rest of the year. Holden will be able to ask workers to start an unscheduled shift after a minimum break of just 10 hours — or only 8 hours if the worker agrees.

Sunday shifts will be paid at double-time but if the shift extends past midnight and into Monday morning workers will only be paid normal hourly rates. Employees will be given just one-day’s notice to work overtime on weekdays regardless of their prior commitments.

This clause is understood to have upset some single parents and those with young families. But News Corp has been told employees with prior commitments such as fetching kids from school will not be forced to work overtime.

To keep the production line moving every 72 seconds to build 335 cars a day Holden has cut the time taken for morning and afternoon “smoko” breaks. Workers currently get paid for morning and afternoon breaks that total 40 minutes but under the new agreement the “smoko” breaks will be cut by 15 minutes. The 35 minute lunch break — unpaid under the old and new conditions — is unchanged.

Holden will be able to force “non-trade” employees to undergo “any training offered”. Management may even be forced to pick up tools and help build cars. “Non-production staff including management may be required to work in production areas,” the amendment says.

The SA secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union John Camillo said “workers will have to judge for themselves” if it is a good deal. “It is not up to the unions to instruct members which way to vote,” Mr Camillo said. “People can make the call themselves on Tuesday.”

Mr Camillo has been talking to workers on the factory floor answering questions about the changes and the union has published a simplified version of the new contract. Holden can hire casual employees and contractors for “high workload periods” on and off for a period of up to three years, at which point Holden is not obliged to hire them full time.

All casual workers will be paid “the lowest rate in the relevant classification structure”. First-year apprentices — the lowest paid workers at the factory — will also be hit hard. They shall be paid award rates of pay “regardless of whether they are employed by Holden or a Group Training Provider”.

Holden has repeatedly stated the changes are required or the factory will close. But even if Holden workers vote ‘yes’ to the new deal there is no guarantee Holden will keep the Elizabeth manufacturing facility open beyond 2016.

Holden still needs to negotiate an extra round of funding after the Federal election on September 7. If the Coalition Opposition wins government it has vowed to cut funding to the car industry. As reported by News Corp yesterday the global head of manufacturing for General Motors, Tim Lee, will visit Australia the week after the election to assess whether Holden’s car assembly line should close.

Weighing against Holden’s case is that the Cruze small car is made in eight other factories around the world, including South Korea, Thailand and China.

Holden has previously stated it would be cheaper — and more profitable — to import the Cruze rather than make it locally. The still-secret 2017 Commodore, meanwhile, is an adaptation of a global design that will also be built in other countries which have lower production costs.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling