Ms BURNET – I move –
That the House supports calls from Saputo workers for pay parity.
Honourable Speaker, we have workers from the Saputo facility at Burnie with us today. Maintenance workers there have been in a pay dispute with the company – a multinational company, because they are being paid less than their mainland counterparts. It is not just a few per cent less but a substantial amount. When negotiations started, it was a 21 per cent pay difference with their mainland counterparts.
A recent skills audit found that these maintenance workers are more skilled than some of their mainland counterparts.
They are now in their ninth week of striking for equal pay with their mainland counterparts and to be considered and valued. They are now feeling like they are not valued by this international company that is giving Tasmanian workers – and they are Tasmanian workers – a raw deal.
To add more insult to injury, that 21 per cent pay gap is now closer to 24 per cent because their mainland counterparts have been able to have successful wage negotiations and increased their pay. Meanwhile, our workers in the beautiful electorate of Braddon are being let down by this international company.
It is not just about money. While these Tasmanian workers are on strike we are seeing them being replaced by international workers. The term that is used is that this is ‘scab’ workforce, which is coming in and being paid more than the workers have been paid.
It is even more insulting to Tasmanian workers that we see the Saputo maintenance workers in this predicament. I acknowledge the workers and union solidarity from the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU). We were written to by Unions Tasmania on this issue. We need to show our support for these workers. We should take this issue of equal pay with their mainland counterparts up and support these workers.
We seek the House’s support for these workers as a matter of urgency because they have been on strike and without pay for so long. They do need, if not the action of writing to Fair Work or to Saputo, but the moral support that this parliament can provide. That is why it is so important to support this motion and to support those workers who are doing it tough.
