Workers at Baiada stay strong together on picket line

The first night of action saw no live birds or workers go into the factory from 6pm on Wednesday 9 November.

Currently NUW members and officials are still outside the two gates into Baiada's poultry processing plant in Laverton. Community supporters have also joined the numbers when they heard that members are workers are campaigning for secure and permanent jobs and the right for all workers to be able to plan their future and have protections at work that have been fought and won be unionists over many years.

Abdulrahman Adem has worked in despatch at Baiada for 8 years. He spoke about what it was like to work in the factory before the strike. "I felt drained, and like I don't belong in the job. I feel like I always have to fight against the company. The work environment is messy; both the managing and worker relations.

"There are no clear procedures and it's never clear who to go to if there are any problems.

"People keep silent and feel exploited because they fear if you talk they will bully you.

"If you stand up for workers rights then you notice you don't get promotions or overtime, you begin to be harassed. I was told that if I want to succeed in Baiada I had to behave like my body belonged to my manager.

"The level of harassment is bad, I have heard of sexual harassment as a way of bullying women on site.

The way the bullying works is they say: you don't have to do what I say, but if you choose not to, don't come back tomorrow."

Abdul also talked about what he wants to see come after the strike: "The big things I want changed can be summarized by respect. I want clear procedures and rules to cover all workers and management. I don't want anymore contractors at Baiada. All workers should be treated and paid the same, and have the same protections, when they do the same work.

"I want to have the opportunity to go further and I want all workers at the factory to have the same."

After four months of negotiations with the company, 100% of  voting NUW members at the poultry processing facility voted to take protected industrial action to defend permanent and secure jobs on site.

Approximately 244 workers are directly employed at Baiada Poultry. The NUW currently has 206 members. There is also a large number of workers employed as cash in hand, contract and labour-hire workers, which takes the actual number of regular workers up to approximately 430.

The NUW has had regular contact with contractors and cash in hand workers but has struggled to represent them because they lack basic collective bargaining rights enjoyed by other workers in Australia.

The company wants to take away any form of meaningful protections in terms of minimum site rates, and conversion to permanent employment. The NUW log of claims includes the regulation of contracting on site, access to direct employment for workers and site rates of pay.

The Union has grave concerns about exploitation and illegal employment practices on site, including in the case of international students, and has lobbied the Federal Government to improve the Migration Act, the Migration Amendment Act and the Independent Contractors Act to ensure companies like Baiada cannot intimidate and exploit vulnerable members of the Australian community and prevent them from collectively bargaining for a living wage and better working conditions. 

Baiada’s indirect employment model has lead to two deaths in six years, one on a farm and one in the Laverton processing facility. Baiada was considered culpable for the earlier incident and fined by Work Safe. The Union is waiting for the later incident of decapitation at the Laverton site to go to trial. The workers at Baiada remember Surel Singh as they stand on the picket line. This horrible incident was reported on by ABC TV's Lateline last year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is currently taking Federal Court action against Baiada Poultry for misleading the community over their animal welfare standards. Animals Australia and other animal welfare and consumer advocate groups have welcomed the action. 

Baiada Poultry is Australia’s leading poultry company and controls approximately 35% of the market and had a revenue in 09/10 totaling $1,195 million, which will have significantly increased in 2011 after the company completed a significant takeover of a major competitor Bartter.

Baiada is the primary poultry provider for Coles supermarkets. Baiada’s other major customers include, Woolworths, Aldi, Nandos, KFC and Red Rooster.

The NUW believes all Australian workers have the right to a secure job and a safe workplace. All Australians should have the right to plan their future. Workers at Baiada are taking protected industrial action for these rights.

An offer by the company today, after several hours of hearings at Fair Work Australia, was unanimously voted down by members at the picket line because did not offer any improvements for job security and respect on site. However, members did vote to stay united together in their struggle for decent jobs they can count on. Stay tuned for updates.

Go to our poultry campaign page to register you support for Australia's poultry workers. Click here