AU horticulture industry pushes to pay off-site workers less
In Sydney to give evidence to the Fair Work Commission hearing of Mitolo Group's application to have the Horticulture Award extended to store workers who handle fresh produce, Ms Rault who grades potatoes and onions at Mitolo's South Australian facility said it was hard to make ends meet on her wages.
"If this change gets through, things could get a lot harder for people like me and my workmates," she said. "Why should big companies be able to change the law just because it suits them?"
Ms Rault's employer, Mitolo Group, a major supermarket supplier, is among companies backed by the Australian Industry Group which is putting their case to the Fair Work Commission.
The National Union of Workers(NUW) says the Storage Services Award, which pays higher rates than the Horticulture Award, should apply to workers in storage facilities located outside the farm gate.
The Australian Industry Group disagrees, saying imposition of the Storage Services Award for off-site packing and storage workers "would impose crippling cost increases" on businesses in the horticulture industry.
NUW secretary Tim Kennedy said the Mitolo application to extend the Horticulture Award to workers outside the farm gate could see up to 8 per cent cut from pay packets and the loss of other entitlements.
"Store workers handling fresh produce would continue to do the same work, every day of the week, except they would be paid less. It's just wage theft. A worker on level 1 could lose more than $60 a week," he said.
Read more at goodfruitandvegetables.com.au
