Sacked workers seek action from ALP

BY MELANIE SJOBERG

MELBOURNE -- The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) Victorian secretary Craig Johnston has called on Victorian Labor Premier Steve Bracks to intervene to prevent the closure of the Heinz Wattie plant in Dandenong and save the 200 jobs under threat.

The company intends to shift the plant's work to New Zealand where employment legislation allows for individual contracts at much lower hourly rates of pay. Johnston told Green Left Weekly that Heinz made a profit of $35 million last year.

AMWU members implemented bans to fight the closure. This led to an attempted lock-out of the workers two weeks ago. The workers defied the company by occupying the canteen. They demanded a meeting with the state Labor government.

Johnston said former ACTU industrial officer Tim Pallas, who now works for the government, was supposed to arrange a meeting but it has not happened. Industrial relations minister Monica Gould's office claimed that there is little point to a meeting because Heinz made the decision to close its Dandenong plant “in the global context”.

Johnston said that the Labor government's lack of commitment to workers raises questions about the AMWU's affiliation to the ALP, which he plans to raise on the union's state council.

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