Meatworkers win in Federal Court

Date: 30 May 2001

Members of the Meatworkers Union who have endured lockouts, pay cuts and intimidation have just won an important case in the Federal Court which will see them get thousands of dollars in back pay.

Late yesterday the Federal Court handed a significant victory to the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (Victorian Branch) for workers involved in a long-running dispute at the O'Connor Meatworks in Pakenham, Victoria.

The Union had argued that the workers were entitled to be paid under their Enterprise Agreement signed in 1992 which gave wages up to 60% higher than those being paid by O'Connor's.

The workers were locked out for 9 months without pay, then returned to work on lower wages and conditions with the employer paying them under another Award. Many of the workers lost 9 months wages and then, according to the Union, hundreds of dollars a week under the regime imposed by the employer G&K O'Connor.

The decision of the Court was that the Union was correct in its argument that the 1992 Agreement applied.

The Secretary of the AMIEU, Mr. Graham Bird, said that the Union had been fighting this battle in court for over 2 years.

"The decision handed down by the Federal Court is a huge win for our members, and a vindication of the Union's position." Mr. Bird said.

"There are many families whose livelihoods have been depending on this decision, and they will hopefully finally see some financial relief after 2 years of hardship and intimidation imposed on them by their employer." Mr. Bird said.

Mr. Bird also said that the decision raised questions about the role of the Federal Government in this dispute.

"There are still hundreds of secret documents in Tony Abbott's office on this dispute. We believe these documents would reveal Government advice and assistance to this employer."

"Given this decision today, there are serious questions to be asked about whether the Federal Government has given advice to an employer that has assisted them in fundamentally breaking the law in order to cut workers wages and conditions." Mr. Bird said.

Meanwhile, the Senate has ordered that 850 documents relating to the meatworkers dispute be released by the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. In a vote on 24 May, the Senate voted that files relating to the Meatworks be produced.

Labor Senator Kim Carr, who moved the motion in Senate, said that the documents may contain information about how 120 trainees, under the Federal Government's New Apprenticeship Scheme, had been used to displace long standing employees who were members of the Union.

"The New Apprenticeship Scheme should not be abused as part of an industrial campaign to reduce wages and conditions. Federal Ministers have become serial offenders in denying any involvement in this affair. With the release of these files, we will now have the opportunity to discover the true extent of the Government assistance and advice."

For further information

Contact:	Graham Bird, AMIEU
Union:	Victorian Trades Hall Council - OHS Unit
Phone:	0418 102284

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