Better jobs 4 better chicken

The delegates were raising their concerns after the NUW released the results of a mass survey of 1000 poultry workers.

It found a staggering 37 per cent of poultry workers have been injured on the job.

“Every one guy out of three is likely to be injured – it is dangerous,” said NUW delegate, Mohammed.

But the NUW delegates said that figure doesn’t even cover the entire problem.

Listen to the interview with the delegates here

Mohammad said he had a small injury earlier in his career that he didn’t report to a supervisor.

“I was not even aware then that I should report that to the supervisor,” he said.

NUW delegate Heath said poultry workers need to report all injuries they suffer at work to improve safety standards.

“I don’t think everybody (working in poultry) has even been shown where to get an injury claim form,” said NUW delegate Rachael.

Her advice to poultry workers?

“Take your injury seriously, don’t bottle them up or hide them because even the most minor injury can become a major one,” she said.

Rachael said workers can go to their Union delegate for help if they need to find out how to record an injury at work.

The poultry survey showed that many workers are being injured at work because they have not had adequate training and production lines that are too fast.

Rachael said many workers feared getting the sack if they didn’t keep up with productions lines, even when they were trying to maintain speeds that were dangerous.

Delegates from across Victoria attended a training day run by the NUW last week. They were discussing how to co-ordinate safety issues across different sites and to include safety claims in the next Agreement.

Same standards for everyone in term of safety, like that, we can share our feelings from the different sites – mohammed

Mohammed – a small injury I did not report it to the supervisior

Heath – more people need to start reporting injuries they have.

At that time I was not even aware I should report that to supervisor

Take your injury seriously don’t bottle them up or hide it because even the most minor injury might become a major one.

Everyone is scared of getting sacked

Every one guy out of three is likely to be injured – it is dangerous.

Don’t think everybody has been shown how to put in a claim form.

The Financial Review is reporting owner Bob Ingham still plans to sell the business by Christmas despite delays in finding a buyer.

Read the full AFR article here and SMH article here

Workers have resolved to conduct a comprehensive safety audit to push for better jobs in the industry.

The safety audit will take place on sites across Victoria.

Poultry workers in South Australia and Western Australia will meet for their own industry organising meetings soon and discuss the next steps in the Better Job 4 Better Chicken campaign.

Poultry workers from the Victorian Industry Organising Committee and NUW Officials will be conducting the survey to find out important safety standards such as line speeds and manual handling, training, bullying and reporting and food safety in the industry.

Poultry workers are in the process of standardising and cleaning up their industry!

You can read more about the predicted sale here

There have already been several deaths as a result of the highly used intersection having blind spots for vehicles traveling along both Lipton Drive and on the Hume Hwy.

On Tuesday May 1 the Union and company held a BBQ and doorstop to bring awareness to the safety hazard that workers face in Melbourne's north.

NUW organisers are engaging with workers at La Ionica around the subject of safety inside and outside the workplace.

Bronwyn Halfpenny, local Labor MP gave her support for the traffic lights and spoke about the importance of safety in the workplace and how crucial being a union member is to continue campaigning for safer workplaces.

NUW Organiser Jeremy Breen handed over petitions signed by members to Ms Halfpenny to be taken to parliament's sitting that afternoon.

Watch the first video here, the second video here and to find out 'what's next' for Inghams Enterprises you can watch the the third video here.

McBain talks in the third video about the price war, which is puting massive pressure on the poultry industry in Australia.

Many wouldn't believe the truth about the working conditions at Baiada's poultry factory in Melbourne's west, because the stories from members are shocking. When the factory got set to negotiate a new Agreement, management felt certain that they would be able to intimidate workers into not standing up for their rights... but they were wrong.

Thirteen days on a picket line is a long time, and even after the National Union of Workers was injuncted from the picket line at the bequest of Baiada, workers remained united and kept fighting.

Bullying at Baiada was rife; favouritism, bribery, verbal abuse and even reports of violent and sexual abuse started to paint a very frightening picture. Hundreds of workers were working cash-in-hand for $10 an hour and the health and safety on site was terrible.

In 2010 Sarel Singh, a contract cleaner at Baiada, was decapitated after he was ordered to clean a chicken line running at full capacity. He had already finished his shift, but workers say that when he asked if he could go home, he was told he could but not to bother coming back the next day. Workers were given no counselling and sent back to work within a couple of hours after the line had been cleaned.

This sort of treatment is happening in Australia. It is happening in other poultry sites. This is why workers are saying enough is enough.

Workers at Baiada Poultry won their dispute. With the help of a strong community of supporters from many different industries behind them: now every worker at Baiada Laverton will be paid site rates. No more cash in hand. No more $10! Redundancy payments have more than doubled. Union and delegate rights have been improved to help uphold health and safety standards on site. Procedures to deal with bullying and harassment have been put in place to protect workers.

To find out more about the dispute you can visit the Union website here.