Locked-out workers defy Schweppes as stocks dwindle
THU 22 DEC 11
With crisis talks over the bitter Schweppes dispute set for Fair Work Australia this afternoon, workers are vowing to fight the company’s increasingly desperate attempts to rob them of their rights to an eight-hour day and time with family on weekends.
Around 150 workers were locked out by the company last week as they took lawful strike action to fight changes to rosters, changes that will see them moving to 12-hour days and forcing them to lose half their Saturdays with no more than token compensation.
The dispute has also begun to affect supply of Schweppes products in the crucial Christmas and New Year period, with reports of supermarkets across the country running out of key brands like Pepsi, Schweppes and Cottees, as workers maintain a 24 hour protest outside the Tullamarine factory.
“Schweppes has launched a vicious attack on the eight-hour day, as well as trying to rob workers of their weekends — something that is sacred to all Australians as that hard-earned time to spend with friends and families,” says Ben Redford, Assistant Victorian Secretary of United Voice, the Beverages Union.
“But when workers fought for their rights, Schweppes simply locked them out. These bullying tactics are the height of bastardry, but Schweppes’s workers are standing strong and are determined to keep fighting now matter how long it takes,” Redford says.
“To make matters worse, Schweppes’s decided to lock out its workers at Christmas time. It could not have chosen a crueller time to launch an attack like this on the very people who work so hard to contribute to the company’s booming bottom line,” he adds.
In the court papers, Schweppes-Asahi said industrial action could see the factory running out of stock on several production lines before the end of the year. It added that many of the drinks produced at the Tullamarine factory can’t be made elsewhere, raising the real possibility that some of the company’s most popular brands may vanish over the summer.
“This is the biggest time of year for Schweppes, and it obviously thought it would quickly break the spirit of its workers and force them back to work in time for the summer rush.”
“But these workers have had a bad feeling since negotiations began that Schweppes-Asahi might pull a stunt like this. They put money aside all year so they can withstand a lock out.”
“They are determined to fight this un-Australian behaviour by this ruthless multinational.”
“Supply of Schweppes’s many brands is being severely disrupted and we hear some of its big-name drinks are already starting to vanish from the supermarket shelves,” Redford says.
Supporters of the locked-out workers have taken to social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to attack Schweppes in droves, vowing to refuse to buy Schweppes brands drinks until the dispute is resolved fairly.
“Schweppes needs to understand the damage it’s doing to its valuable brand while it’s bullying its workers,” Redford says. “The word’s out about how Schweppes is treating its workers and we’re seeing that message really taking off on social networks.”
As well as the best-selling Schweppes brand of drinks, the factory manufactures Pepsi, Solo and Passiona, soft drinks, Spring Valley juices, Cool Ridge water, Gatorade sports drinks, Cottee’s cordials and even cans of Jack Daniels and cola.
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