Bookstore workers to walk out over decade-old pay deal
Fed-up staff at one of Australia’s most iconic book chains with stores across the country are set to strike over a decade-old “zombie” pay deal.
One of Australia’s most iconic bookstore chains is facing its first-ever staff strike as workers accuse the company of refusing to scrap a “zombie” pay agreement.
Over 100 unionised staff at Harry Hartog and Berkelouw Books have threatened to carry out a full-blown strike on Saturday if their demands aren’t met.
With 19 stores across the country, the chain has been run by the Berkelouw family for six generations and over 200 years.
The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) says the industrial action is a direct response to a “zombie” enterprise agreement (EA) made in 2012.
In response, a spokesperson for Harry Hartog and Berkelouw Books said the 2012 deal was approved by the Fair Work Commission and passed the Better Off Overall test, and therefore is not a so-called “zombie deal”.
The union, however, claims the deal abolished all weeknight and Saturday penalty rates and casualised penalty rates.
Rohan McCartney, who works at the Harry Hartog store in the Macquarie Centre, had one message for his bosses.
“One thing I really want them to understand is that we’re not doing this out of maliciousness or to really cause financial hardship to them.
“Everyone is saying how much they are valued, but then the employment practices don’t reflect that.”
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Responding to the industrial action, a spokesperson for Harry Hartog and Berkelouw Books said the company is “continuing to negotiate in good faith with the union.”
The company added it will also offer improved conditions, training, staff discounts and “continued above-award rates”.
RAFFWU’s director of strategic litigation, Josh Cullinan, claims employees had been locked into “poverty wages” - a characterisation the company rejects.
“Workers want a new agreement which will apply to everyone in the store, which will pay them living wages giving them secure jobs, fair treatment protection,” he told news.com.au.
“That’s what they’ve been campaigning for.”
The industrial action will begin on Wednesday with bans on meetings with managers, receiving stock and restocking shelves.
“When employees are hired they are given a permanent part-time contract which only guarantees four hours a week, we are not given regular days or hours and it is subject to week to week but without casual loading and higher rate of pay,” said Mr McCartney, who also acts as a union delegate.
“A lot of our workers are young people who are uni students, they have to look for a second job … the wages are just not where you’d hope them to be,” he added.
The union has accused the company of forcing workers to accept working conditions far below industry standards, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis.
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The workers are demanding a new EA and the decision to strike follows a long and difficult negotiation process.
Despite starting in October and a case being taken to the Fair Work Commission, the union has accused the company of “refusing to agree to any more meetings.”
The union has a list of 70 demands, but claims management has refused to engage with them any further.
“There’s only been three meetings plus the Fair Work Commission process … we have been asking for meetings every day. We said we want to get an agreement by Christmas, but they have refused to agree to any more meetings,” said Mr Cullinan.
The company however, asserts is it “committed to listening and communicating” to staff, and it’s understood another meeting is scheduled for Friday.
For the strike on Saturday to be called off, the workers and the union are looking for the company to “have signed an agreement to have living wages in the return of the conditions that have been stripped for too long,” said Mr Cullinan.
Workers are demanding a minimum wage of $31 per hour, with the return of weeknight and weekend penalty rates as well as protections against unfair treatment and job security rights, particularly for part-time employees.
The company says it has “put forward a fair, substantial offer in good faith, which meets our team’s request to change from a consolidated rate of pay that incorporates penalty loadings in the base rate, to one that has penalty rates paid during standard loading periods.”
Originally published as Bookstore workers to walk out over decade-old pay deal
