Imagine: after months of negotiations and industrial action at your work, you find out that non-union bargaining representatives and a union with little coverage on site have invited a handful of your fellow workers to a paid meeting during work hours.
The union that represents you and most of your co-workers has not been allowed into the meeting. When your elected delegates try to enter the room, they are physically stopped. This was the situation confronting workers at Woolworths liquor distribution centre in Stapylton on Friday, 8 November.
At the meeting, the offer put on the table was 0.1 percent higher than the last offer by the company. This was a grubby deal negotiated between management and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association. The SDA has lost most of its members on the site because it didn’t stand up for workers’ rights or fight to improve pay and conditions.
The reaction of the rank and file was defiance: “They had a tiny room booked and had invited only a few people, but once everyone found out, they all wanted to get in. SDA and management couldn’t get a word in; every time they opened their mouths, a worker would demolish their arguments with some basic facts”, relays NUW delegate Mark Barclay (one of the delegates barred from the meeting).
The company has announced another paid meeting for the SDA (in the same tiny room). Meanwhile, the workers have been having their own meetings on the front lawn of the warehouse during smoko breaks. Their message: We’re fired up! No to dodgy deals!
A strong rank and file is the backbone of any decent union. When workers are organised and can feel their collective strength, our confidence grows.
It’s an inspiration to talk to the workers at Stapylton, and although their fight is ongoing, they are in a strong position to get the deal they want, not a backdoor deal someone else wants to impose on them.