Casual labour hire workers at GrainCorp's Port Kembla Grain Terminal have been told they will be sacked if they don't turn up for work while their full time colleagues, who work directly for GrainCorp, take protected industrial action today.
The 10 full time GrainCorp employees, who operate GrainCorp's grain export terminal, have been locked in negotiations with the company since December.
Their enterprise agreement expired in March.
The 10 full time GrainCorp employees will take a week of protected industrial action.
The Fair Work Commission has authorised industrial action but the casuals on site have been told by management if they don't turn up to work they will not be rostered for anymore shifts.
Australian Workers Union NSW State Secretary Tony Callinan says there is no place for intimidating and threatening casual workers while their full time colleagues are taking protected industrial action in 2023.
"GrainCorp management are so out of touch they think it is OK to threaten insecure, casual workers with the sack while full time workers legally withdraw their labour," says Tony Callinan, AWU State Secretary.
"It is a fundamental right of any worker in Australia to participate in protected industrial action sanctioned by the Fair Work Commission and GrainCorp shouldn't be threatening the rest of the workforce".
"This is a classic use of vulnerable casual labour hire workers to undermine the full time workforce.
"Full time workers are upset because GrainCorp wants them to perform extra duties while only offering a paltry pay rise to compensate them for the extra work.
"GrainCorp's share price is up 17% in the last week and has doubled over the last year, yet they are offering a low wage to their employees.
"During the drought when grain yields were low workers accepted substantially lower wage increases, but on the back of two years of bumper crops and record GrainCorp profits workers expect a wage rise that at least keeps up with inflation," says Tony Callinan, AWU State Secretary.
GrainCorp's Port Kembla terminal has capacity to manage 250,000 tonnes of product at any one time from grains for export to oil and cement for import.
