No Gaytimes this summer: union calls for ice cream boycott

Ice cream manufacturer Streets, owned by Unilever, is the latest company to apply to terminate its enterprise agreement with its workforce. Workers at the Streets factory in Minto, south-west of Sydney, could be forced back on to the award if Streets wins its case at the Fair Work Commission.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, which represents the 178 skilled production workers whose agreement is on the line, says that award wages are up to 46 percent lower than under the agreement. Under the award, workers would also lose a number of important conditions, including some annual, personal, parental and compassionate leave entitlements and redundancy payments. The company will be able to ignore existing restrictions on the use of contractors and labour hire and changing shift patterns.

The workers produce all major Streets ice creams, including Magnum, Golden Gaytime, Paddle Pop, Cornetto, Splice, Callipo, Bubble O’Bill, Blue Ribbon and Vienetta. The union is calling for a boycott of Streets ice creams and will be campaigning throughout summer to raise awareness of the dispute. It is calling for a “Streets-free summer” and will target major events, such as the cricket, with a message about workers’ rights.

Negotiations for a new agreement started 18 months ago. The company has been pushing for a 4 percent pay cut and the scrapping of longstanding conditions. Before the company went to the commission to strengthen its hand by tearing up the existing agreement, workers had voted overwhelmingly to reject the company’s sub-par offer.

According to Stephen Murphy, AMWU site organiser, the factory is producing record tonnages of ice cream products. The workers know that the push to cut their wages is driven only by greed. They are refusing to submit to the company’s ultimatum.

The dispute is shaping up to be another major test for a union movement facing off against a renewed employers’ campaign to wind back long standing wage rates and conditions. As with the months-long brewery dispute at CUB in 2016, Streets workers can target popular consumer products to publicise their struggle.

Concerned about the impact of a campaign against its brands, Streets has already taken the extraordinary step of issuing a memo to workers that bans them from reacting to the union’s social media posts. The company has even threatened workers with consequences if friends or family are found to be posting about the dispute.