November 4, 2024 – Talks between Australian commodity trading company GrainCorp and the Australian Workers Union (AWU) with the Fair Work Commission broke down recently. This is leading to 200 Aussie grain handling workers beginning one-hour work stoppages at from 29 October until the company agrees to their request of a wage increase that matches inflation.
During the initial talks, GrainCorp put forward an offer of a 14% increase over three years, with a sign-on bonus of $1000 and backpay to July 1, 2024. However AWU NSW Secretary Tony Callinan said that they want to see long-term, sustainable solutions.
The deal that GrainCorp offered was a 6% increase in the first year, 5% increase in the second and 3% in the third, compared to the worker demands of 6% in the first year, 5% in the second and 4% in the third.
Mr Callinan shared to another media that, “I’ve made clear this afternoon, we’re open for discussion. We only want an extra one percent. If they find that one percent, they can give us a call.” The strikes are set to carry on until November 28 and the action will take place at random times each day with as little as a 10 minute warning.
The strikes do not yet threaten grain supply but will increase freight costs as well as stress and fatigue of the harvest.
