Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I express my sympathy, strong support and solidarity to all people grieving and suffering as a result of the catastrophic Victorian bushfires, and I will say more on that later when I speak on the condolence motion.

Re-establishing fairness to Australian workplaces was one of the hallmarks of the Rudd Labor government, so when I hear of workers in my electorate of Page being treated more like cattle than people it makes my blood boil. One of my first jobs after leaving school in Ipswich was as an abattoir hand. It was hard, physical and sometimes dangerous work. On staggered days last year—28 November, 1 December and 2 December—up to 23 employees turned up to a south Grafton abattoir for work to be told by embarrassed foremen that they were out of a job due to ‘a WorkCover thing’. They were handed a week’s pay, shown the gate and thrown out on Armidale Road to uncertain futures. Appallingly, they did not receive their rightful entitlements: termination pay, redundancy, annual leave and long service—nothing. Coming up to Christmas, with mortgages to service, bills to pay and presents to buy, this was a very cruel, bloody-minded and gutless way to treat employees, some of whom had been veterans of the slaughter floor.

All of these workers tell me they were employed by Tempus Holdings Pty Ltd, a labour hire company that provided labour to abattoir owner Stuart Ramsey’s company Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd. The sacked workers were informed in writing that Tempus Holdings would on 28 November 2008 cease to be a labour hire company supplying labour for Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd. The local Daily Examiner newspaper, which has been championing the plight of the affected workers and their right to entitlements, has repeatedly asked Stuart Ramsey, Tempus Holdings director Michael Considine and their solicitors about the complex corporate structure attached to the abattoir. The Daily Examiner’s inquiries have been met by silence and stonewalling. I have twice written to Mr Ramsey, on 12 December and 12 January, on behalf of my constituents seeking clarification on exactly who is responsible for paying the sacked workers their outstanding entitlements, but I have had no response to date.

My constituents have names and they are happy to be mentioned in this House. Robert Baker, 57, of Grafton was a level 5 slaughterman and had worked at the abattoir as far back as 1970. Robert estimates that he could be owed $40,000 in entitlements. He hurt his lower back in 2006 and was on reduced hours under WorkCover before he was sacked. Paul Lumley, 44, of Grafton was a level 4 slaughterfloor labourer who had been at the abattoir since 1994. He is owed $20,000. Paul had lodged a claim with the Workplace Ombudsman against Tempus Holdings for unauthorised pay deductions. He believes this was the reason for his dismissal. Grant Tomlinson, 44, of Waterview Heights was also an experienced abattoir worker—working there for 10 years in all. An injury to his left shoulder on the slaughterfloor in 2005 meant he was on light duties under WorkCover; but, as he put it, there are no light duties in an abattoir. I can attest to that. Supporting a partner and a 10-year-old child, Grant is owed about $3,000.

John Woods, 29, of Westlawn in Grafton was at Ramsey’s for three years, working as a labourer and knifehand. He badly tore tendons in his right shoulder about nine months ago, an injury requiring an operation in Coffs Harbour Base Hospital. John was off work for two months but was gradually building up his hours under WorkCover. He had just signed a contract to buy a new $25,000 car before his sacking on 1 December. John has a partner and two-year-old daughter to support at home and could do with the $5,000 in entitlements that he is owed. Paul Windler, 41, of South Grafton had been at the abattoir for a year. He did the dangerous job of operating the bandsaw in the small boning room. He hyperextended his right wrist in an accident last September and went to Grafton Base Hospital for treatment. Paul developed tendonitis in his wrist but went back to work on the bandsaw. He is chasing $3,000 in entitlements.

I have arranged for any sacked abattoir employee to get free legal advice on unfair dismissal or unlawful termination from the Lismore based Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre. I have raised this with my colleague the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations the Hon. Julia Gillard. I raised the allegations of these men with the Commonwealth Workplace Ombudsman and am heartened to say that they have given a high priority to their investigation.

I know that the Workplace Ombudsman recently served a notice to produce documents on the director at the registered office of Tempus Holdings and that significant resources are being directed at the investigation. I am encouraging more affected workers to come forward and provide evidence so that they can recover what is rightfully theirs and perhaps discourage rogue employers out there from running roughshod over other workforces in regional Australia. I do not care what tricky, albeit legal, company arrangements may have been put in place, the person morally and ethically responsible for paying these workers their entitlements is the person who owns the abattoir—Stuart Ramsey. (Time expired)