Bundaberg mill workers to walk out tomorrow

BUNDABERG cane growers will be the meat in the sandwich tomorrow when Bundaberg Sugar workers commence 24 hour strike action.

Workers at the Millaquin and Bingera mills, along with other Bundaberg Sugar enterprises, will strike from 7am through to 7am Friday morning. Workers will also cease working overtime for seven days.

The strike is a result of a breakdown in discussions between the workers, via the Australian Workers Union (AWU), and Bundaberg Sugar, over the re-negotiation of the Bundaberg Region Sugar Agreement.

It will be the first time in a decade workers have agreed to a stoppage.

The sticking point has been a Bundaberg Sugar proposal to buy back the traditional week’s travel leave which workers have claimed for the past 30 years.

Tony Beers, AWU organiser, Gladstone, said the negotiations were not going anywhere because of Bundaberg Sugar’s ardent stance on taking the leave.

"Ultimately it got to a point where Bundaberg Sugar rolled a grenade through the door and said there would be no new agreement unless workers sell back a week’s travel leave," Mr Beers said.

"We’ve been round and round the block, I suppose."

Mr Beers said workers have not had a pay increase since March 2008.

"Sugar mills right across Queensland have moved resolutions in support of their sugar worker brothers and sisters here in Bundaberg, and this has the potential to extend itself right across Queensland," he said.

A reduced amount of cane will be crushed at the mills over the 24-hour period, with flow-on effects to harvesting contractors and ultimately farmers, many of whom are watching the world sugar price reach levels it hasn’t seen in 30 years.

Leone Aslett, financial controller, Bundaberg Sugar, said the strike could not have happened at a worse time.

"It’s a terrible time for it to happen, not only for us as Bundaberg Sugar but also for the people that forgotten in this who are a huge part, the Bundaberg cane growers," Ms Aslett said.

"The fact is we are positioning ourselves to take the company forward into the future and to increase productivity we need to buy back those travel days.

"It was actually extremely disappointing because the union had suggested RDOs (rostered days off) as an alternative to buying out travel days which we believe could lead to a workable solution but at the meeting (on Monday) they just made unrealistic demands of filling three of the days at triple time which is just such a long way from representing a cost effective means of improving productivity for Bundaberg Sugar."

Allan Dingle, chairman, Bundaberg Canegrowers, said growers were in a difficult situation.

"We are disappointed the industrial action has had to happen," he said.

"The industry is quite buoyant at the present time after a very depressed market for the last 10 or so years so we certainly don’t want to see industrial action jeopardising growers’ ability to get the best they can out of their crop."

The AWU’s Mr Beers said he’d heard growers were upset with Bundaberg Sugar.

"It’s no good for the industry. Right now, we need to be getting on. And we keep telling the company, let’s just fix it and move on, and keep everything humming along," Mr Beers said.

Bundaberg Sugar’s Ms Aslett said last year, the parent company Finasure spent $20 million on Millaquin Mill to improve efficiency and reliability, which was a sign the company had faith in the industry and region.

"We’re actively out there advertising for growers," she said.

"Certainly at these prices, growers are locking in $540-550/tonne compared to last season when they got $332/tonne."

But Mr Beers said the company needed to have a look at its own operations first.

"It’s quite ironic. You’ve got Bundaberg Sugar running cattle, Bundaberg Sugar planting macadamia trees.

"So here they are screaming about the sugar industry and yet they are going out and planting small crops and other crops on their paddocks."

Earlier this month, the International Union of Food (IUF) wrote to the Belgium-based Finascure urging its Australian management team to "cease from its confrontational agenda".

Both Bundaberg Sugar and the AWU expect further strike action if an agreement cannot be met.

source: qcl.farmonline