“We want the company to show the same respect for its workers as it does for its expensive cars.”

Workers employed by the automotive group Auto Nexus have set up a protest line outside the company’s Greystanes warehouse.

The workers are protesting against the company’s decision to not pay them for meals taken during overtime that they were required to work at short notice.

AMWU organiser Clinton Lewin said:

“When the company has a lot of work on it tells the workers at the last minute that that they are needed for overtime. This means that they have no opportunity to bring a meal from home and so they are forced to buy something to eat.”

“Auto Nexus deals with some of the world’s most expensive cars.  It is part of the multinational Inchcape Group of companies, that boasts about its sales of more than $15 billion last year.”

“We want the company to show the same respect for its workers as it does for its expensive cars.”

“All we are asking is for the company to pay its workers for the meals they are forced to buy when they are working at night to make extra profits for the company.”

AMWU Organiser, Sean Morgan said that the workers had been trying to negotiate with the company for more than twelve months.

“These workers have become very frustrated. Some workers are owed more than $1500 but the company just won’t treat their request seriously.”

“Finally last week the workers told the company that they would not process paperwork until management started to talk to them seriously.  Instead of sitting down to talk to the workers, they were told that they would not be paid at all!”

Mr Lewin said that the dispute would be heard in the Industrial Relations Commission later this week, but that in the meantime the workers had voted to hold protest rallies outside the company’s Greystanes site again next week.”