The deal will see the grain handlers’ pay packets rise by 12 per cent by 1 July next year. Photo: GrainCorp.
Riverina farmers can continue harvesting without worry after grain handlers across the region voted to accept a proposed 14 per cent pay rise from GrainCorp after demanding an increase last month.
The Australian Workers’ Union announced that grain handlers working at grain receival sites across NSW had voted to accept the proposed three-year pay deal with GrainCorp. The deal will see their pay packets rise by 12 per cent by 1 July next year.
This follows last month’s protected industrial action to demand fair pay, whereby more than 200 GrainCorp workers voted for stop-work measures authorised by the Fair Work Commission.
AWU NSW assistant branch secretary Ron Cowdrey said grain handlers had backed each other, stood shoulder to shoulder and obtained the results they wanted.
“[Grain handlers] they’ve had a great result and they’re stoked,” Mr Cowdrey said.
“This is a huge win and it just shows if you work as a team and have each other’s backs, you can achieve great things.
“Our members can now focus fully on getting in the winter harvest.”
The union said members began voting on 18 November at 6 am and concluded on 19 November at 6 am.
“It’s sad our members had to resort to industrial action as it caused unnecessary worry for farmers during the busy winter harvest season,” Mr Cowdrey said.
“But GrainCorp just weren’t hearing what their workers were telling them.”
The AWU said that despite grain handlers receiving annual pay increases between 2021 and 2023, inflation rates of 2.86 per cent, 6.59 per cent and 4.10 per cent during those years had led to a 7.5 per cent decline in real wages.
In 2021, GrainCorp made a profit of $139 million, followed by $177 million in 2022 and $250 million in 2023.
The Fair Work Commission approved a ‘’protected industrial action ballot’’ for GrainCorp workers after negotiations with management broke down. On 22 October, the majority of AWU members at GrainCorp voted to begin industrial action.
Last month, negotiations broke down at the Fair Work Commission after GrainCorp executives refused to agree to an additional 1 per cent wage increase (a 30-cent-per-hour rise) in the third year of the new agreement.
The first pay rise (6 per cent) will be backdated to 1 July, 2024, while the second (6 per cent) will kick in on 1 July, 2025, and the final increase (2 per cent) will arrive in pay packets on 1 July, 2026.
Grain handlers are responsible for moving and storing wheat, canola, barley, oats and other grains.
Freshly harvested crops are trucked from rural properties to bunker silos for storage before being loaded onto trains for transportation to the coast and shipment to overseas markets.
Loading ...
