Pay-rise strikes ‘will scramble egg supplies’

Threatened rolling strikes by the CFMEU against a major egg carton supplier could disrupt the supply of eggs to supermarkets, cafes and restaurants

Huhtamaki general manager John Sartori at the company’s Melbourne facility in Preston on Tuesday. Picture: Aaron Francis

Threatened rolling strikes by the CFMEU against a major egg carton supplier could disrupt the supply of eggs to supermarkets, cafes and restaurants, with the company attacking union demands for annual 4 per cent pay rises during a recession.

Huhtamaki, which claims to be responsible for 70 per cent of the nation’s egg packaging, said the union’s planned stoppages at its Preston factory in Melbourne’s north from Friday would impact the daily packaging of 7.5 million eggs across Australia.

John Sartori, general manager of Huhtamaki Fiber Packaging Oceania, said the industrial action would cut the factory’s output by 70 per cent, impacting more than one-third of its customers.

“Huhtamaki is extremely concerned about the impact the industrial disruption will have on the supply of egg cartons to its customers and, in turn, on the supply of eggs to families and businesses around Australia,” Mr Sartori said.

The union’s manufacturing division president, Denise Campbell Burns, said the company sent a text message to workers threatening to lock them out and close down the plant for the duration of the industrial action.

Huhtamaki operates in 35 countries and has its head office in Finland. Because of the pandemic restricting imported supplies of egg cartons, many customers were already waiting 12 to 18 weeks for the delivery of orders.

Mr Sartori said the company was currently supplying 90 per cent of Australia’s egg cartons.

During eight months of unsuccessful negotiations over a new enterprise agreement, the union’s manufacturing division has sought annual pay rises of 4 per cent for the next three years.

The company is offering a 2.6 per cent rise backdated to January and similar rises for the next two years. It said the 130 employees, who earn on average $120,000 a year, already received “generous benefits” including a 62.5 per cent leave loading.

But Ms Campbell-Burns said the headline pay offer was misleading because the company was proposing cuts to the base pay rate which would leave workers worse off when they worked overtime or were on paid leave. The dispute is to return to the Fair Work Commission on Thursday.

She said the company had enjoyed a bumper year and accused it of using the pandemic as cover to reduce labour costs.

Mr Sartori said the company offer was in line with pay rises granted in comparable local manufacturing industries while the union demands came as “Australian families face unprecedented job insecurity and economic hardship owing to the pandemic”.

“In a year that has left more than 900,000 Australians, including 7 per cent of Victorians, out of a job, the CFMEU is demanding a 4 per cent pay rise despite earning almost double the average annual salary of other manufacturing workers in Australia,” he said.

“In the middle of a recession, the union’s action threatens an industry that employs 3839 people and generates $900m each year.

“Domestic supply chains — already under significant strain — are facing further disruptions from the actions of the union, placing additional pressure on Australian farmers and threatening the supply of eggs to businesses in the food and hospitality industries which are desperately trying to recover from the impact of the pandemic.”

The union intends to hold rolling four-hour stoppages from Friday, with further stop­pages proposed across next week, with the exception of the Melbourne Cup public holiday.