Foodstuffs workers to picket Botany Pak n Save

6 December 2013

Workers at the Botany Downs Pak n Save supermarket will protest outside their workplace at 1.30 pm on Saturday December 7.

FIRST Union Retail Sector Secretary Maxine Gay says Richard Longdon, the owner of the store, has made a fortune out of the efforts of the hard working staff who stack his shelves and operate his checkouts but he is treating them as if they were no different to one of the cans of beans he buys and sells.

“This man has decided to cash up and sell his business, but he is refusing to meet his legal obligations to discuss workers job security or renegotiate a collective agreement that expired at the end of October,” she says.

“He is about to sail off into the sunset in his multimillion dollar boat, but instead of being grateful to the people who made this possible his parting gesture to them is akin to spitting in their faces.

“We have been trying since September to get a meeting to discuss what happens to the workers after the store is sold and negotiate the annual pay increase but he keeps dodging us.”

Maxine Gay says the union will be seeking a compliance order from the Employment Relations Authority to force Mr Longdon to face up to his responsibilities and in the meantime workers will begin a campaign to encourage customers to find a supermarket with a better set of ethics to shop at.

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