Lion Nathan National foods campaign page
Vitasoy gets a win in Wodonga
For report on first 24 hour action click here
For report on second 24 hour action and EBA click here
Wins for workers
- Protection for all workers through insertion of a clause guaranteeing that all casual workers, whether directly or indirectly employed will enjoy the same wages and conditions as other workers on site
- Ability for Union organisers to enter the site to assist workers in disputes and to distribute information with less than the standard 24 hours notice
- A commitment to collectively bargain with the Union and its members
- 12% wage increases over 3 years (4.5% + 3.75% + 3.75%) plus a $1090 “sign on bonus”
- Maintaining fair and wide access to the industrial tribunal
- Increased union training leave for union delegates
- Improved long service leave
What the company was prevented from doing
- Limiting casual rights: the company wanted indirectly employed casuals to receive site wages only, not other conditions making indirectly employed workers cheaper to employ, and permanent workers less attractive
- Insisting on the standard 24 hours notice in all cases where a union organiser wants to attend the site
- Paying increases of less than 10% over 3 years
- Limiting scope of disputes to the industrial tribunal
September update
Negotiations for new EBAs have been moving along at different speeds at several sites.
At Campbellfield the Union has lodged its Log of Claims (LOC), which you can read here, and the company has put in their own LOC: click here.
King King Meadows got an order for a protected action ballot on Friday 2 September. Members will vote for proected action on Tuesday 27 September. You can have a look at the order here.
At Penrith, the company have forced members to seek protected action as well and an order to hold a ballot for protected action was granted on Thursday 8 September. Click here to see the order for Penrith.
In a familiar story, members at Vitasoy have also been pushed to seek protected action. Their initial application (see here) was appealed by the company, but that was overruled and you can see the decision approving a vote for protected action here. Members at Vitasoy have voted on protected action and the result cam through on Thursday 15 September. Protected action was voted 'Yes' by about 80%, so stay tuned for an update from the members at Baranduda! You can see the results of the vote here.
Support for Vitasoy Hong Kong continues
Members at Vitasoy in Baranduda continue to support their fellow workers in Hong Kong. Recently a photo of all Lion Nathan National Foods delegates was put on a banner of International Solidarity and signed by our members at Vitasoy in Victoria.
That banner was sent to Hong Kong for their next protest and really gave all the members and delegates in Hong Kong a huge lift.
NUW National Secretary, Charlie Donnelly, has also sent the CEO of Vitasoy International holdings a letter seeking a meeting to discuss the resolution of EBA negotiations in Baranduda and also the respect and recognition of the Vitasoy Employees Union in Hong Kong. You can read that letter here.
You can keep supporting the Vitasoy workers in Hong Kong by going to a new Facebook page: get updates, post comments and let people know what you think. The more people that are interacting on this page, the stronger the message will be to the company - we think all workers should have the right to form and be represented in a union of their choice!
Members at Vitasoy stick together to get site-wide reclassification
In September 2010, three members in the Vitasoy warehouse asked to be assessed to move up a pay level. The membership went to their manager and gave him two weeks to respond. A month went by, but management had to admit the company didn't even have a process in place for this to happen.
Delegate John Sheehan checked the award. It showed that nearly all Vitasoy workers were, at that time, wrongly classified. With great communication between members and delegates on site, and a workforce that knew they could demand their rights when unified; the entire membership went again to management to say something had to be done.
All members at Vitasoy have now been re-classified. Over half have gone up two levels resulting in an 8% pay increase and between $4000-5000 in back pay.
Of eight members that were still dispute over how they were graded, four have been finalised - all four receiving the grading that the membership advocated for.
In addition, all labour hire casuals will now be able to be classified, resulting in most of them receiving pay rises of above 9%. There will now be more jobs at the higher end of the pay scale and because the membership – permanents and casuals – stuck together, a fair outcome can be enjoyed by all.
Vitasoy members get a run in The Age newspaper, Wednesday 22 June, click here to read the article.
Vitasoy delegates report on LNNF at Victorian regional delegates conference
On Wednesday 8 June in Wodonga, John Sheehan from Vitasoy gave a roomful of delegates, from companies such as Murray Goulburn, Nestle and Uncle Toby's, a report on the LNNF conference in April.
Delegates, representing thousands of workers in regional Victoria, were interested to hear about your decision to begin sharing information and organising on a national level – in the face of negotiating with a national and international corporation. Many of the other delegates that attended the conference are in a similar position.
John also spoke about the current EBA negotiations at Vitasoy. After the letter of support for Hong Kong Vitasoy unionists signed by you all at the April LNNF conference, a concrete pledge of support has been included in the Vitasoy log of claims.
You can read more about the campaign for union rights in Hong Kong and the EBA campaign of our Victorian Vitasoy members here.
National Foods log of claims
Negotiations have started at several National Foods sites and their log of claims have been lodged:
- Click here for King Island log of claims
- Click here for Vitasoy log f claims
- Click here for King Meadows log of claims
Morwell 2010 EBA finished
Click here to view the 2010 Morwell Agreement.
National Foods members page
Through your delegates you can update this page with what's going on at your site. You can use this space to continue talking and sharing your knowledge about your work site and your industry
Your National Foods delegates are on the right side of this page and you can click on the links underneath each site photo to view the site's Agreement.
More information on National Foods and your industry:
- Click here for Lion Nathan National Foods financial results for financial year 2010.
- Click here for more information on the make up of Lion Nathan National Foods.
- National Foods made a submission to the Senate Inquiry into milk pricing. To view the submission click here.
On the second day of the national conference, Vitasoy delegates brought a proposal to all National Foods foods delegates to support their fellow workers at Vitasoy in Hong Kong:
The proposal was passed unanimously!
Union delegates' committee meet in Hong Kong
NUW official, Adam Portelli, recently visited the Vitasoy union delegates committee in Hong Kong. He delivered the National Foods delegates' letter of support for their fellow workers and discussed the many things Australian and Hong Kong workers have in common. The meeting was a great success and the delegates in Hong Kong were grateful for the support displayed by Australian National Foods workers. They look forward to greater international solidarity in the future.
From left to right: Cheung Chi Keung (Committee member), Adam Portelli (NUW official), Lo Wai Hong (Vice Chairperson), Lau Yau Wing (Treasurer), Cheung Chi Shing (Chairperson)
