Wilmar Sugar and Renewables to lock out striking mill workers
Wilmar has told more than 1200 wages employees that anyone involved in industrial action at it sugar mills will be locked out of work.
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Wilmar has told more than 1200 wages employees that anyone involved in industrial action at it sugar mills will be locked out of work as of Wednesday morning.
The dire threat means that striking employees “will not be paid until the lockout is lifted”.
The Australian Workers Union have been contacted for contact.
The Electrical Trades Union immediately blasted the move as a new level of “new level of bastardy”.
A spokesman for Wilmar Sugar and Renewables said the lockout would not include workers who were not involved in the industrial action.
He said employees who had been involved in strike action but wished to attend work and carry out their “full duties” were also free to resume their jobs.
“Members of three unions (AWU, AMWU and ETU) have been imposing work bans and rolling stoppages at the company’s nine factories since mid-May in support of demands for an 18 per cent pay rise (recently reduced from 22 per cent),” the spokesman said.
“The industrial action has delayed completion of essential maintenance and preparatory work at the factories ahead of the 2024 sugar season and have forced the company to push back start of production by more than a week.”
Wilmar said the unions had recently notified intention to continue rolling stoppages and bans, including overtime bans, for at least another week “forcing further delay and impact on growers, contractors and others in the community”.
The spokesman said that the decision to lock out was not taken lightly, saying the company respected employee rights to union membership and taking lawful industrial action.
“However, the company also has the right under the Fair Work Act to respond to prolonged industrial action to protect its interests,” he said.
“We have willingly engaged with bargaining agents for the employees and encouraged negotiation, even asking the Fair Work Commission to assist.”
The spokesman said it had been striving to reach a fair, reasonable and sustainable outcome.
“However, unions have chosen the industrial action path over negotiation,” he said.
The company has requested a ballot of employees covered by enterprise agreement to be held on June 10 and 11 to vote on the most recent offer of a 14.25 per cent increase over three-and-half years.
The offers includes an additional sign-on bonus of $1500 and a $20 a week allowance for electrical workers using their licences.
ETU organiser Liam Sharkey said workers had the right to take “legal and protected industrial action”.
“We have planned mass meetings at all the mills this week, and workers voted to take one hour of stoppages to attend those meetings,” he said.
“Wilmar is threatening to lock out any worker who attends those meetings.”
ETU State Secretary Peter Ong said that after 27 years as a union official, “the level of bastadry from this company astounds me”.
“To threaten workers with indefinite loss of pay for attending one hour-long meeting is an absolute disgrace,” he said.
“Instead of giving workers a fair wage increase … this company is treating its workers with absolute contempt.”
AWU Northern District Secretary Jim Wilson bemoaned the move as a “disgraceful attempt to prevent workers from standing up for themselves and their communities”.
He said the attempts would ultimately be unsuccessful.
“This is a multinational corporation trying to bully and intimidate North Queenslanders to stop us asking for our fair share,” he said.
“These are intimidation tactics of the highest order.”
Mr Wilson said that cane growers would not accept Wilmar delaying the crush by locking workers out.
“Crushing workers’ wages and entitlements at Wilmar has clearly become the personal crusade of some people in management,” he said.
“If this continues, they will never be able to show their face in our communities again.”
Tully mill workers have also been hit with a lockout notice today.
AWU Far Northern District Secretary Dave Hearse said that the lockout notice is heavy handed, bullying conduct by the mill.
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Originally published as Wilmar Sugar and Renewables to lock out striking mill workers
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