Workers at Wilmar Sugar mills in north Queensland are prepared to go on strike for increased pay of 12 per cent in the first year, eight per cent in the second and five per cent in the third year following a majority vote in favour of industrial action.
A ballot taken of hundreds of workers between Monday and Friday this week saw more than 92 per cent of AWU members vote in favour of the option to take legally protected strike action at Wilmar's sugar mills when the crush begins this year.
AWU Queensland branch secretary Stacey Schinnerl said this was a clear sign to Wilmar that their workers were not going to accept another poor deal.
"After rejecting Wilmar's bad deal last year, workers have once again sent a message to management that they aren't going to cop another one," she said.
"North Queenslanders are not going to accept being shortchanged by a multinational corporation like Wilmar - this is a line in the sand for the entire region."
This successful ballot will mean that Wilmar can expect significant industrial action during the crush season this year which is the period where sugar cane is transported to mills to be crushed into sugar and Wilmar's peak earning season.
Ms Schinnerl said workers were ready to hit Wilmar where it hurts.
"This is the first time in a very long time where there will be industrial action disrupting Wilmar's peak earning season," she said.
"Wilmar can avoid this action by coming back to the table with a fair offer."
Ms Schinnerl said Wilmar's shareholders needed to take a closer look at the management of the company.
"Wilmar executives and their shareholders need to reflect on whether our members will settle for their next offer if they want these mills to keep operating," she said.
"Our message to them is simple - we know you are making record profits and we know that you can give your workers the fair pay rise that they deserve."
AWU members have been meeting with cane growers and community members across North Queensland since November last year, and many have shared their frustrations with the company.
The industrial action that workers have voted for includes strike action of one hour, two hours, four hours, eight hours, 12 hours and 48 hours. It also includes, but is not limited to, work bans on performing overtime, call outs and working with contractors.
The AWU stated workers were calling for pay rises of 12 per cent in the first year, eight per cent in the second and five per cent in the third year.
This would place workers towards the higher end of the sugar industry which they believed was appropriate considering the surging profits of a multi-billion-dollar multinational company like Wilmar, the union said.
According to the AWU, Wilmar is offering pay rises of just 5 per cent, 3.75 per cent and 3 per cent before Christmas when they put their proposed agreement out to a ballot of their employees without union approval.
"With inflation factored in, this would have taken workers backwards in real terms," the AWU said.
"Workers believe this is not fair considering Wilmar's generationally high profits, which is why 80.5 per cent of workers voting against the company's poor deal in that ballot."
Wilmar and Canegrowers were both approached for a comment. Canegrowers declined to comment.
