Press Release
Howard's Workplace Inspectors investigate warehouse workers
Friday June 16, 2006
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NUW NSW State Secretary Derrick Belan
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NUW NSW State Secretary Derrick Belan has expressed disgust over the actions of ia taskforce from The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, after it interviewed NUW members employed at a Sydney warehouse.
The DEWR taskforce was called in to interview Esselte warehouse workers who have refused to sign individual contracts.
The members, who work at Minto, in Sydney's South West, were pressured to sign the individual contracts on the eve of their collective agreement expiring.
The majority of members have refused to sign the individual contracts, despite substantial pressure from management.
Last week, Esselte's lawyers wrote to the NUW threatening legal action on the basis of their claim that the NUW was pressuring workers not to sign the individual contracts.
Yesterday (June 15), the DEWR taskforce began collecting witness statements from Esselte workers to determine if the NUW had applied duress to its own members not the sign the contracts. However, the method of collecting these statements has upset the members at the site.
Workers who were directed by management to attend the interview were driven to an off-site location, without being advised that they had a right to representation. Upon arriving at a public facility, the members were taken into a meeting room to be interviewed by the inspectors.
The members were told that if they didn't answer questions they may be subpoenaed to appear in court. The interviews varied in length from a couple of hours to almost five hours.
"Obviously it was a harrowing experience for the workers," NUW spokesman Mark Ptolemy said.
NUW NSW State Secretary Derrick Belan said that public servants were being used to intimidate workers into signing individual contracts.
"This type of action is the reality under John Howard's new industrial landscape - workers have no rights, but are instead intimidated and pressured into accepting lower wages.
"This whole episode shows that employers intend to use taxpayer funded agencies to try and force workers into signing inferior individual work contracts."
Last modified 2006-06-22 01:33 PM
