Workers at Superior Pak in Queensland are entering negotiations for a new collective agreement after a huge increase in union membership.

AMWU delegate Gary Payne said from a base of two members they now have seventy members at the company.

“When I first started here, I was very concerned about the lack of communication between management and workers and a host of other issues that no one was addressing.

“From previous jobs, I know that unionised workplaces are better places to work so, I thought I’d better do something about it.

With the help of co delegate Winston Yorke, they began to talk to their workmates about the benefit of union membership.

“We began to have meetings where we would discuss our concerns and this was a novel experience for a lot of the guys.”

More people came on board in May after the company called for a secret ballot for an EBA committee. Three non-union employees were seeking to get themselves elected and there was talk about getting a non-union agreement outcome.

Organise Steve Murphy said the workers were concerned about this and voted for union members to go on the negotiating committee.

“The results from the secret ballot indicated that 91 employees were in favour of a union agreement. So even those that aren’t in the union supported us.”

Gary Payne believes that things have improved since the union presence.

“Management have cleaned up their act. They’ve started to include Winston and me in their communication, which is as it should be.”