23 April 2024
Tasmanian workers are calling for fairness as dozens of Saputo Dairy operators will walk off the job at the processor’s Burnie site in North-West Tasmania on Tuesday 23 April.
Saputo workers are the latest in a tranche of workers in Tasmania fighting for industry rates of pay and mainland wages. Tasmanians are no longer the poor cousins of the mainland.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union is seeking Saputo Dairy address the discrepancy between Tasmanian wages and the mainland which have been ignored during enterprise bargaining negotiations.
Workers on sister sites in Victoria earn 21% more than their colleagues in Burnie. The AMWU is asking for pay parity.
The cost of living is impacting Tasmanians as workers struggle with prohibitively high house prices and souring rents.
Media is invited to attend the site on Tuesday.
Quotes attributable to Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union Tasmanian State Organiser Michael Wickham:
“We are over being the poor cousin here in Tasmania. We shouldn’t be paid less than the mainland. This is unacceptable.”
“Workers at the Burnie factory are more skilled and the site more technical, but the employees just want to be paid like those on the mainland.”
“What’s good in the mainland is good for Tasmania. There’s no argument Tasmanian should earn less than their mainland counterparts.”
Media contact: Sonia Feng 0451 034 839