Furnishing workers reject pay cut

About 50 furnishing workers arrived at Canterbury Windows and Doors on 28 May to find that management had locked them out of the Clayton South factory where they work. The workers, members of the CFMEU, are in a dispute with management about terms of a new enterprise agreement.

The two-day lockout notices were issued after workers voted to reject an “insulting” wage offer of 1 percent extra a year (up from 0 percent at the start of bargaining). A week earlier, the workers stopped work for two hours in protest at management’s hardline approach.

The shop floor at Canterbury Windows and Doors is fully unionised, and the workers said they won’t allow the company to starve them into submission. In response to the lockout, the union set up a picket line with union flags, deck chairs and a barbecue, important symbols of the workers’ determination to stay. Management could be seen peering out at the picket from their offices.

Speaking to Red Flag, CFMEU organiser Colin Vernon said the workers were proud to stay at the job site rather than spending the two days off at home. “The company is trying to break their resolve”, he said.

All of the workers Red Flag spoke to said this was the first time they have been involved in industrial action. Most had worked at Canterbury Windows and Doors for years and argued that they had better pay, conditions and safety standards because of the strong union presence at the site. In past bargaining rounds, management had generally made a “reasonable” offer on wages.

This is the first time workers have been asked to take a pay cut in real terms. They say they won’t accept it.