Workers strike at Penfolds for cost of living rise

United Workers Union warns industrial action could continue into the peak harvest production period.

Workers at Penfolds owner Treasury Wine Estates will strike for 24 hours.

Workers at Penfolds owner Treasury Wine Estates will strike for 24 hours in support of a 14 per cent pay rise, as their union warns industrial action could continue into the peak harvest production period.

Seeking to capitalise on a recent revolt by TWE shareholders, United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy has written to the company’s biggest institutional investors, including the nation’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, highlighting the “risks” associated with the dispute and separate legal action taken by seven sacked labour hire workers.

About 125 workers at the company’s Barossa operations are seeking annual pay rises of 5 per cent, 5 per cent and 4 per cent over three years, after accepting a one year pay freeze during the pandemic and increases totalling just 5.5 per cent in the past two years.

The company has offered pay rises totalling 11.5 per cent over three years, and the workers will strike at two sites on Wednesday in a bid to pressure the company to lift the offer.

“Treasury Wine executives might think nothing of sampling a $800 bottle of Grange but workers are in the grips of a cost-of-living crisis and finding it hard to put food on the table,” Mr Kennedy told The Australian.

Nearly half of TWE’s shareholders voted in October to reject the company’s remuneration report after the board allowed long-term share incentives for chief executive Tim Ford to vest despite impacts stemming from Chinese wine tariffs.

Treasury Wine Estates CEO Tim Ford. Picture: Supplied

Mr Kennedy said Mr Ford’s bonus was a “particularly bitter pill for workers to swallow after they agreed to help the company by taking a wage freeze in the first year of the last agreement during Covid”.

He said the seven former labour hire workers, who are union members, were pressing legal action against TWE, alleging discrimination after they were terminated following company-mandated medical examinations.

A Treasury Wines Estates spokeswoman said the company had “detailed plans in place to minimise any impact to customers” as a result of the strike.

“We understand and appreciate the pressures of the current costs of living and believe our recent offer was substantial and fair, with an 11.5 per cent pay increase over three years ensuring team members would remain amongst some of the highest paid in the industry,” the company said.

“This increase is ahead of the average annual wage growth and in line with forecasted CPI over the covered period. We will continue to negotiate with all bargaining representatives, including the proportion of our team at the Barossa winery and packaging facility that is represented by the United Workers’ Union to achieve an agreement.”

In his letter to Australian Super, Mr Kennedy called on the fund to urge TWE to bring the enterprise bargaining negotiations to a “speedy conclusion by making an offer that meets the reasonable expectations of their production employees”.

“There is a risk of industrial action in the coming weeks if negotiations for a union agreement are not resolved soon,” Mr Kennedy wrote.

“Action is likely to continue into the peak harvest production time, a crucial time in the winemaking process when the winery crushes that year’s vintage.”

He said union members wanted changes to the way TWE employed labour hire and engaged with the union and its workforce to “ensure the employment and human rights of employees are respected while working at TWE”.