Members of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) at the Townsville Glencore Refinery are set to take protected industrial action commencing tomorrow in the form of partial work bans.
Glencore have sent correspondence workers today advising they will not be paid if they participate in the partial work bans, regardless of any other work they perform.
Negotiations started on the 25th of March last year, but to date Glencore has refused to offer workers a decent wage increase that meets the rising cost of living.
Quotes attributable to AWU Queensland Branch Secretary Stacey Schinnerl:
‘It is an absolute disgrace that Glencore are now threatening workers with no pay, even if they turn up to work tomorrow.’
‘The response from Glencore shows just how little respect this company has for their workforce and the Townsville community.’
‘This is a multi-national company that happily made billions of dollars off the sweat of these workers.’
‘A multi-national company that was all too happy to take a $600 million tax-payer funded government bailout because they ran their assets into the ground.’
‘And now they are happily kicking the hell out of workers who are simply trying to get a wage increase that doesn’t see them continue to go backwards.’
‘Our message to Glencore is simple. We aren’t going anywhere. The AWU and our members will keep fighting every day until this company stumps up and provides their workers a decent wage increase that keeps up with cost of living.’
Media contact: Zac Beers 0419 765 955
