Here are some of the core features of the excessively lengthy and guffy document:
Up to 20 days of unused sick leave is paid out when an employee leaves the company; Only recent employees are limited to one year pay on redundancy/severance – all others (and this will be virtually all of them) can receive up to 104 weeks pay (4 weeks for each year of service) and for very some very long term employees, the figure is even higher; And wait for this – there is a loading on the lump sum according to the age of the employee, starting from aged 50; SPC Ardmona is a union shop, with the company agreeing to a union representative attending induction and agreeing to encourage union membership; There are 8 union reps on site (shop stewards) and they are entitled to 5 days paid leave to attend trade union training. They can also undertake union business on company time; Overtime is paid at pretty much standard rates it would seem – eg. time and a half on Saturdays (so much for Barrie’s assertion there); And wait for this, the workers receive a Rostered Day Off every month; And then there are ridiculous allowances, such a having a first aid certificate, container allowance, bright can allowance (I am not making this up), wet place allowance, cold allowance; Annual leave looks excessive – 28 days, compared with the norm of 20 days, with leave loading paid for the full period; Compulsory income protection insurance (a union racket for which the company pays part of the premium) And the list goes on. There is some ridiculous arrangement called The Council, which is clearly an impediment to managers making decisions, outlined in the agreement.
As to rates of pay, they look pretty generous when you add in the allowances and overtime, etc.
This agreement is just typical of the destructive agreements that pervade lots of parts of manufacturing. To think that Australia has a future in food processing with this sort of legal instrument in place is just fanciful.
