Workers at McCain’s in Ballarat Victoria have brought management to the negotiation table after staging a protest against the company’s unfair hiring practices.

AMWU Victorian organiser Angela McCarthy said the company had been pursuing favouritism in their employment practices and were neglecting to recognise the skills of their casual workers.

“At the beginning of the year, casuals were told there was no work until March, then the company advertised 17 permanent jobs. The company told the casual workers who applied for them that they were unsuccessful.”

Workers were further angered by the company’s use of a contractor to undertake cleaning work at the plant, when existing casual employees were available to do the work.

Ms McCarthy said the workers decided to take some action against the hiring practices which were ignoring the skills base of existing workers.

“Imagine doing a packing job for six years and then being told that you can’t apply for a permanent job, even though you have the skills to do it.”

The workers’ actions have succeeded in getting management to the negotiating table with the union to establish a skills matrix and to get an agreed job criteria.

Ms McCarthy said there was a skills matrix in place which the company decided to scrap arbitrarily without any consultation.

Delegates at McCain are meeting with management and Ms McCarthy is hopeful that they can improve the present situation.

“It can’t be a place where it’s jobs for mates. It has to be fair,” she said.