Industrial action reared its head in Melbourne today as workers continue the fight to keep their jobs and maintain conditions amid the continuing economic gloom that has prompted companies to slash staff numbers.
Australian icons Telstra and Foster's are the targets. The telco was hit by a stop work today and hundreds are expected to protest outside the Foster's plant in Abbotsford, in inner-suburban Melbourne.
Chanting 'Not Happy Sol,' hundreds of office and technical workers converged in central Melbourne on Wednesday calling for improved pay and conditions in the wake of outgoing chief executive Sol Trujillo's multi-million dollar departure package.The protesters held banners as they called for an enterprise bargaining agreement today and demanded an explanation over the loss of 133 jobs in Bendigo last week and the plummeting share price which they say has been in decline since Telstra's failed federal broadband bid.
Hundreds of Foster's workers are set to protest at the brewing giant's Abbotsford plant over planned job cuts.
The workers are angry over a decision to cut almost 120 maintenance staff from the payroll and outsource the positions.
Unions representing the maintenance workers, the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, say the company is using the global financial crisis as an excuse to cut jobs, even though it is profitable.
The company recorded a $411 million net profit in the last six months of 2008, and directors awarded themselves with pay increases and extra shares, the unions said.
"What the company is doing is so out of line with community expectations that we think it is necessary to protest," ETU state secretary Dean Mighell said.
The unions said the job cuts were discovered only because management sent an email outlining the plan to the wrong person - and that the staff facing unemployment were given no warning.
"This is the company that only a few weeks ago told three blokes they would lose their jobs, while they were volunteering with the CFA (Country Fire Authority) fighting the bushfires, people Kevin Rudd called `national icons'," Mr Mighell said.
"CEO Ian Johnstone last year took home $1.8 million; in 2009 he's eligible for an additional $1.35 million in performance bonuses, plus 75,000 stocks.
"These are the people who have profited during the boom, and now that there is a storm on the horizon, they are prepared to throw workers into the scrapheap."
Earlier this week, car-parts manufacturer Robert Bosch announced it would scrap up to 170 positions.
The company rejected a union claim that workers had been asked to take a 50% pay cut. It said the economic downturn and an "unprecedented" 40 to 50% drop in overseas demand for its parts, as well as a significant slowdown in Australia, as the reasons for the decision.
BusinessDay with AAP
