McCain Workers Facing Lock Out Over Pay Dispute

Essential workers at McCain Foods in Smithton are facing a lockout after calling for better pay and better working conditions.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union alleged that employees of the food plant have seen wage increases that haven’t kept up with inflation over the past four years.

In addition, the Union also added that staff took pay cuts during the pandemic, to ensure that the Tasmania production line could continue processing during that time of uncertainty.

In response to these claims, the Frozen food giant threatened staff with a lockout, telling The Mercury that they would not be able to operate during the planned period of industrial action on Thursday.

“The action has been structured by the union to ensure the plant cannot be operated efficiently in the interim, as it is simply not practical to try to run a plant of this size and scale for such a short amount of time”

This is not the first time McCain has seen industrial action in the Smithon plant, in 2003 it closed the Tasmania processing plant to expand the company in New Zealand.

Negotiations between the AWMU and McCain are beginning on Wednesday.

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