Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since July 2022 workers at Visy Packaging in Shepparton have been negotiating for a better deal amidst the cost-of-living crisis. With workers now entering their 18th week of industrial action, Visy has tried to break the workers' will in the Fair Work Commission, has made personalised attacks against workers and is now bringing in new workers to break the strike.

Such cruel strategies don't belong in a modern industrial relations system. Where there are families to feed and mortgages to pay, Visy's harsh tactics punish workers for standing up for their rights. During the pandemic these essential workers kept our groceries on shelves. When CPI was low they understood the need to accept minor pay increases. Now, with CPI stubbornly high, workers are simply asking for their sacrifices to be respected. Workers are seeking, among other entitlements, a 12 per cent pay rise over three years, barely keeping up with the rising cost of living, driven, in part, by company profits. After refusing to bargain for months, Visy, a $7-billion-a-year company, has offered a meagre 8.75 per cent wage increase over three years, leaving workers worse off amidst rising inflation.

We call on Visy to return to the bargaining table, to respect the right to strike and to give their workers a decent wage increase.