Submarine workers get wage parity after 12 month dispute

Submarine maintenance and construction staff working at government-owned shipyard ASC in Adelaide have been given wage parity with colleagues doing similar work in Perth – but it has taken a year long wage dispute to achieve it.

In a dispute that saw ASC CEO Stuart Whiley dig in against union demands only to eventually decide to depart the company in 2026, 350 trades and operators have been awarded on average an 18.5 percent increase in their wages

This brings the workers, who will be called upon to construct nuclear powered submarines under the AUKUS pact, into line with their Western Australian counterparts.

Members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and others will also receive future increases in line with ASC workers in WA. ASC workers in WA are currently negotiating their enterprise bargaining agreement.

In the meantime Osborne Naval Shipyard workers are performing a critical Life of Type Extension on the Collins Class submarines which will be in operation for another two decades.

AMWU SA Acting State Secretary Stuart Gordon said: “The principle of same job, same pay rang true in our lunchrooms and on our picket lines – by standing together in unity, union members and ASC have achieved a great outcome.”

Whiley and ASC argued that a different employment environment existed in WA which necessitated a higher wage for WA workers.

However Adelaide is not as cheap a place to live as it has been in the past with inflation in house prices and rents, and the Adelaide labour market is the tightest in the country.

And as the AMWU’s Gordon said: “This agreement will give ASC the ability to retain and attract the high-skilled workforce in Adelaide needed for Collins and future AUKUS work.”

Further reading:
ASC CEO will not renew current contract
AUKUS submarine workers continue strike action at ASC

Picture: ASC