E-Malt.com News article: Australia: Workers to strike at Fosters brewery

Workers at a Foster's brewery in Queensland are preparing to walk off the job following a dispute with management, Australian press announced September 26.

About 200 employees will meet tomorrow evening to discuss when to hold a strike at the company's Yatala brewery, south of Brisbane, after voting in an Australian Electoral Commission poll to take industrial action.

The strike will involve three unions - the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).

LHMU Queensland secretary Ron Monaghan said the employees were disputing a move by management to negotiate a new workplace agreement without union involvement.

"The vast majority of Yatala brewery employees want their wages and conditions set by a union collective agreement," he said.

"That's the choice they've made, yet Foster's is ignoring that choice."

The members will decide whether to hold a four-hour, six-hour or eight-hour work stoppage.

A Foster's spokeswoman said the work stoppages would not have a significant impact on beer production at the brewery.

"We are prepared for the possibility of protected action and have contingency plans if there needs to be some minor rescheduling to take into account four-hour stoppages," she said.

"No one's going to miss their VB, or their VB Mid or their Crown or their Crown Gold or their Stirling or their Stella Artois."

She said the company had offered a revised wage offer to its 295 Yatala staff which they hoped would end the dispute.


26 September, 2007