Saputo Dairy Australia maintenance workers from Burnie factory hold rally on side of the Bass Highway

As soon as a meeting with their employer wrapped up, disgruntled workers walked out of a northwest Tasmanian dairy factory and started rallying on the side of the Bass Highway. Find out why.

Maintenance workers from the Saputo Dairy factory in Burnie rallying on the side of the Bass Highway. Picture: Simon McGuire.

Maintenance workers at the Saputo dairy factory in Burnie, who have been fighting for pay parity with their mainland counterparts since August, have expressed frustration after saying their employer reneged on its offer.

However, Saputo Dairy Australia’s Operations and Supply Chain Director Gerard Lourey said his company believed the unions representing the workers had been spreading “mischaracterisations and incorrect information.”

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ (AMWU) and Communications, Electrical and Plumbing (CEPU) Unions say that Saputo has offered maintenance staff a worse offer than it previously did.

“The offer now, instead of being parity with Saputo workers, is that they picked out local contractor Fonterra and tied parity to them in four years,” CEPU Tasmanian State Secretary Michael Anderson said.

“It’s a complete backflip from where we were two weeks ago.

“This multinational company feels it’s okay to lie directly to striking workers who are doing it tough and effectively signalled to the Tasmanian community that they don’t, and are never going to, bow to the idea of parity.”

Maintenance workers at the Burnie factory are paid 21 per cent less than Victorian Saputo workers doing the same job.

Union delegates met with representatives from the Australian division of Saputo last week in Sydney after it sent a letter to the CEO of the Canadian-based multinational.

However, after a meeting on Friday morning at the Burnie factory involving union delegates, Mr Anderson said the company told them its pay parity offer would not be relative to Victorian Saputo maintenance workers.

Maintenance workers from the Saputo Dairy factory in Burnie rallying on the side of the Bass Highway. Picture: Simon McGuire.

After the meeting, workers and union representatives left the factory and started rallying on the side of the Bass Highway at Wivenhoe.

Mr Anderson said the latest development in the pay dispute was a “kick in the guts” for the 24 maintenance workers at the Burnie factory.

“But I think the guys have had a sense - because we’ve been bargaining for so long, and the company just seems to change the goalposts at will - that the idea of mutual respect went out the window quite a long time ago.

“These guys know that the company doesn’t value them and doesn’t respect them, their families, or their communities, so they’re exercising their legal rights to show the company how important they really are.

“The company now has a choice to make: either keep kicking 24 maintenance workers to the kerb or stand by the principles that they trade on for fairness and equality and get real.”

In response, Mr Lourey said Saputo remained committed to progressing negotiations in good faith.

“SDA is of the opinion that the unions comments contain mischaracterisations and incorrect information.

“Our bargaining team met with the Union this morning and put forward a fair offer.

“Our intention is to resolve outstanding items with union representatives in a swift and amicable manner.”

The CEPU and AMWU have called the public to boycott dairy brands processed at Saputo facilities, such as Devondale, Cheer, and Mersey Valley.

Originally published as Saputo Dairy Australia maintenance workers from Burnie factory hold rally on side of the Bass Highway