THE standoff between Portland Aluminium and trades staff has taken to the streets, with workers forming a protest line at the site.

As reported in the Observer recently about 40 trades staff – those responsible for in-house maintenance and members of either the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union or Electrical Trades Union – have been taking protected industrial action since December in support of wage claims for their new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.

The unions are seeking a 36-hour working week – in which case workers would forego some wage increase – or between four and five per cent a year over the term of the EBA.

Alcoa’s last offer was 14 per cent over four years but it has refused to entertain the shorter working week.

That was rejected by more than 70 per cent of union members in a vote recently and since then the standoff has come to a standstill, with no further offer by Alcoa.

It took the unions to the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday, a few hours after a protest line formed outside the smelter.

ETU organiser Troy Knight said the unions approached the company after that vote was finalised last week.

“They told us there was nothing else to offer,” he said.

“It’s disappointing, especially when they’ve offered more money (to staff) in WA.

“We’re not sure why they wanted to go to the Commission for a hearing when they won’t even talk to us so we’ll just have to see how it all plays out if they don’t come to the party.

“It’s not an unreasonable claim, these guys (workers) have made serious concessions in the past against union advice, which is unusual, but they’ve got such a vested interest in this plant.

“It’s sad that the company can’t take this seriously.”

 AMWU organiser Tony Hynds said the wage claim worked out to $1 a tonne of the price of aluminium, which is trading at more than $3400 on the London Metals Exchange.

“After just giving 14 per cent to the workers in WA who are already on a 36-hour week, it’s disappointing we’ve come to the situation we are in now, to get this double whammy by offering these guys a better deal.

“These guys made big sacrifices in the past to make sure the smelter had a future, but when we met last Tuesday the resolve of these guys, we didn’t need to (prod) them to do this.

“It’s one of the few worksite me and Troy look after that doesn’t have a 36-hour week – you usually give up a pay increase to get that and we’ve made that clear to the company but they’re not budging.”

Mr Hynds expected the protest line would extend into next week and perhaps further.

An Alcoa spokeswoman said “we are committed to negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is both fair to employees and sustainable for our business”.

“The offer we have put forward is competitive in both the region and industry, and fair given the already generous pay and conditions provided by the business,” she said.

“While we respect the right of employees and unions to take protected industrial action as part of the negotiation process, we don’t believe it will assist in resolving this matter and are concerned about the impact it could have on families and the broader community.

“We have contingency plans in place to mitigate any industrial action and to ensure the health and safety (of) our workforce.”