CSR sugar: not so sweet

Employees and Australian Workers Union (AWU) members at CSR's Yarraville sugar refinery are in dispute with management over a log of claims for their enterprise bargaining agreement.

Employees and Australian Workers Union (AWU) members at CSR's Yarraville sugar refinery are in dispute with management over a log of claims for their enterprise bargaining agreement.

The workers' claims include a 5% wage increase, a 1% increase in superannuation, improved long-service entitlements and an improved redundancy package. CSR has refused to negotiate with the union. However, the company's four separate attempts to use the courts have not brought it an inch closer to breaking the picket.

Rolling 24-hour stoppages began on June 17, then ceased three days later on June 20 when CSR's management got a temporary stay on industrial action, claiming the action was illegal based on a technicality. But, at an Australian Industrial Relations Commission hearing, the presiding commissioner said that management's claim had not been made "with clean hands".

The AWU then gave the IRC 72 hours' notice of strike action as required by regulations. The strike commenced at midnight on June 27 and is set to continue indefinitely.

AWU site delegate Rodney Doyle told Green Left Weekly that there were rumours that CSR was using other staff as scab labor to keep part of the plant going, and having them trained by a sugar boiler brought over from New Zealand. "The fact that the workers have stood very strong, turning away trucks that wanted to cross the picket line, is already impacting on soft drink and confectionery companies", Doyle said.

The workers hope that their industrial action will force CSR to come to the negotiating table with "clean hands".

From GLW issue 757