WORKERS facing the chop at Kiewa’s Murray Goulburn dairy are “scapegoats”, one of Australia’s top union leaders says.
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ACTU secretary Sally McManus made the comment as she prepared to visit Wodonga today and meet some of those who will lose their jobs when the plant closes.
“The workers who are set to lose their jobs at Murray Goulburn are the scapegoats of a bad business model that big corporations are demanding of dairy manufacturers across Australia so they can sell cheap milk for fatter profits,” she said.
“The loss of 300 decent, secure jobs...is devastating.
“Regional communities across Australia are faced with rising unemployment and the impact of these job losses on the regional communities of Kiewa, Rochester and Edith Creek will be catastrophic for workers and their families.”
Ms McManus will attend a regional delegates’ conference of the ACTU-affliated National Union of Workers in Wodonga this morning.
She will meet Kiewa Murray Goulburn workers and discuss the NUW’s campaign to reverse the decision to close the factory, which employs 135.
“The ACTU and the union movement is supporting the NUW members who make our milk and cheese at these sites in their call for government to convene a meeting with Murray Goulburn, the union and other stakeholders to interrogate the decision to close factories and investigate alternatives,” Ms McManus said.
A letter launched on Monday by the NUW has attracted 200 signatories.
It calls on Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford and Murray Goulburn chief executive Ari Mervis to review the plant closures and meet to discuss alternatives.
Ms Pulford has not responded to The Border Mail’s requests for comment on the Kiewa factory shutting.
The member for Indi Cathy McGowan, who is in Canberra for parliament, will meet Employment Minister Michaelia Cash today to discuss the closure.
She also hopes to speak to representatives for Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce.
