LOCKOUT ENDS AS MARYVALE DISPUTE OVER

The four-week lockout at Opal Paper’s Maryvale Mill is over, as Opal has reached an in-principle agreement with its workers and the CFMEU for a new Enterprise Agreement.

The workers voted late Saturday,15 February, to accept an improved deal, and were back at work at 6am this morning (Sunday 16 February), a full month after the lockout was first instigated.

Despite increasingly hostile rhetoric from union representatives as the lockout dragged on, Opal said it “negotiated in good faith” for an Enterprise Agreement that it said is “fair and appropriate” to the Mill’s current operations. The Mill went through a seismic shock a year ago, losing half its output when an adverse judgment in a case brought by environmental activists against Opal's logging contractor caused the end of the Mill’s 200,000 tonnes-a-year white paper production, and the closure of two of its five papermaking lines.

An Opal spokesperson said the company was “pleased” to welcome its 308 workers back to the Mill, and said, “Opal is focused on the future of the Mill, which remains an important asset for our growth as a major manufacturer of quality cardboard packaging products in a competitive market.”

The union welcomed the new agreement, claiming it ensures wage increases for all workers, and the retention of existing terms and conditions. The Maryvale Mill is the biggest employer in the Latrobe Valley.