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Unions urged to get back to negotiating table
Cheese boycott call concern
BRONWYN LISSON
UNIONS representing Tasmanian Saputo workers and the
dairy giant are being urged to
settle their dispute.
The unions have ramped up
their ongoing strike, calling for
a nationwide boycott of notable dairy brands such as Cheer,
Devondale, Cracker Barrel,
King Island Dairy, Liddells,
Mersey Valley, South Cape,
and Tasmanian Heritage among
others, all including ingredients manufactured by the dairy
processor.
TasFarmers president Ian
Sauer said there was concern
for some dairy farmers.
“As the dispute goes on,
there is still a degree of uncertainty among farmers about
what this could mean,” he said.
“TasFarmers understands
that the Saputo workers want
to have pay parity with other
workers around Australia, we
fully understand that, and we
want that issue to be resolved
as soon as possible so that confidence can come back into
the dairy farmers and the milk
market.”
However, Flowerdale share
farmer Nathan Lawrence who
supplies to Saputo isn’t too
concerned about the boycotts.
“I just don’t think the boycotts are going to damage the
market that much,” he said.
“The union members want
the same pay as workers on
the mainland, but I could say
the same for us farmers,” he
said.
He said that if Saputo workers were able to secure pay
parity with the mainland he
would hope farmers in Tasmania could secure the same pay
as farmers on the mainland.
Currently the prices of milk
are different to those on the
mainland and Mr Lawrence
said Tasmanians should get
Unions have called for a nationwide boycott of Saputo
products in pursuit of their pay-parity claim.
the same price.
Tasmanian Primary Industries and Water Minister Jane
Howlett has criticised the
unions saying a boycott will
only hurt farmers.
“Instead of talking Tasmanian products down, which
will only hurt our farmers,
we encourage the union to
get back to the negotiating
table,” she said.
The boycotts come after
failed negotiations with
Saputo to pay its members
the same wage as its mainland counterparts.
Workers in Burnie, paid 21
per cent less than their Victorian counterparts, have been
on inde昀椀nite strike to rectify
this disparity, which Saputo
exacerbated with a new inadequate offer.
“I encourage Saputo and the
union to work together in good
faith to deliver a deal as soon as
possible,” Mr Sauer said.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU)
and the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union
(CEPU) have begun a nationwide boycott of Saputo dairy
products and are now targeting
major retailers like Woolworths
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8 TASMANIAN COUNTRY Friday, July 5, 2024
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and Coles to pressure Saputo
into fairer terms.
AMWU Tasmanian organiser Mick Wickham said supporters of these workers have
been waiting for the call to ban
all Saputo products, but striking workers wanted to give
management a fair chance to
do the right thing 昀椀rst.
CEPU Tasmanian state secretary Michael Anderson said
Saputo had completely disrespected 24 striking workers by
making a worse offer than was
in play a month ago.
“Enough is enough, if this
company thinks that it can
break the spirit of this community with disrespect, they are as
wrong now as they have been
since negotiations started.,” Mr
Anderson said.
“We’ll see if two million
union members around Australia can change their mind
by showing their disgust at the
checkout.”
