The National Union of Workers’ (NUW) blockade of the Somerton/Toll distribution centre in Somerton, Victoria, has been big news. The picket, now in its 10th day, shows no sign of disbanding, even after NUW officials were prohibited on Monday from organising on the site by a Victorian Supreme Court interim injunction, which was extended yesterday out until next Wednesday.
I spent a cold night at the picket on Tuesday, talking to the strikers about their reasons for being there. Workers are rostered on the picket according to their shift at the warehouse — day, afternoon or night. Around 100, sometimes more, attend during the day. At night it drops to around 30, bolstered by community activists from left-wing groups like Socialist Alternative and other unionists, notably the CFMEU, Firefighters, Nurses and Plumbers’ unions.
The site itself is split into two smaller pickets: the main truck entrance, about 25-30 metres across, is blockaded by a wall of wooden forklift pallets. At a smaller entrance for car traffic 200 metres down the road, workers sit under a tent and the pallets are mainly for firewood. Half a dozen flaming 44-gallon drums dot the picket, around which the workers and activists talk to pass the time.
Morale is high at the site, partly due to the widespread belief that Toll "would love to break us", and is behaving accordingly.
Unions are required to give three days’ notice before striking, and according to one worker New Matilda spoke to, the company erected dozens of temporary security cameras on high white poles overlooking the entrances to the site immediately after receiving the union’s notice. Management has also being doing "drive by" scans of the site to keep an eye on "troublemakers", the worker said.
The company has also been sending individual workers multiple text messages a day. Sighted by New Matilda, the texts put a pro-Toll spin on developments in the dispute: "UPDATE: Great result today in the Supreme Court for those who want to go back to work. The NUW have to tell all their members that they must stop blocking workers and trucks from entering and leaving the site. We are working on a plan to get you back to work a.s.a.p. More to follow soon. Regards, Toll Customised Solutions," read one text, sent 16 July.
Workers also told NM that their co-workers named in the initial Supreme Court interim injunction were harrassed and intimidated by representatives of Toll serving legal papers. Families have also allegedly been harrassed, and some union members have sent their children to live with relatives for the duration of the proceedings.
The company’s day-to-day conduct at the facility was also criticised by workers on strike. Steve, who had been working at the site for just over three years, said it was common on the day shift for management to issue written and verbal warnings for minor infractions; he had been written up multiple times for taking too long on toilet and smoke breaks, but said it was because of walking time to and from designated areas.
Another worker said that warnings were handed out for minor "OH&S" infringements, like taking a mobile phone out of your pocket. Steve said management was rewarded for issuing warnings, and that they played the shifts off against each other.
"They’re real bastards, mate, they just want to squeeze you. But the day shift would be happier with a bit less if they gave arvo and night a bit more," Steve told New Matilda.
The key issue in the dispute is the disparity in conditions between workers on the three shifts. At the Toll centre, afternoon and evening shifts don’t receive shift loading for the duration of their time on the clock, which is the norm at other Coles-run warehouses.
One young worker on the afternoon shift told New Matilda his shift ran from 2pm-10pm, but shift loading only kicked in at 7pm. At this time, he said, management required workers to take a compulsory 40 minute unpaid lunch break.
"Everyone thinks we want huge pay rises; we just want what’s normal in other warehouses," he said.
Also being disputed is a pay rise of 5 per cent per year for three years, rostered days off for day shift workers, and voluntary work on public holidays; currently workers don’t get a choice, but do get loading. Workplace entry provisions for union officials are also on the table. Currently officials get less than one hour of on-site time with workers a year, another worker told NM, and it was common for union material to be removed from break areas.
The union is also seeking permanent employment for casuals who work at the site for six months. Toll is pushing for nine months; "It’s easy to flick off a casual before nine months," one worker said.
Many pointed to the last enterprise bargaining period around three years ago as a reason why they were keen to strike this time around. After voting successfully to strike, a number of workers told NM, Toll called for another vote, and "stacked it with casuals who won it, then were sacked afterwards."
"Although we can’t prove it exactly, as the company HR would say: perception is reality," one worker quipped.
Rumours abounded about a police crackdown while I was there. The raid was meant to come at 4am, then at 7am, then at 10:30. Sources on site told New Matilda that eventually, at 11:15 yesterday, the police warned the picketers that Toll intended to bring in a busload of "managers".
The bus was refused entry to the site, after workers and activists linked arms and chanted "Nothing in, nothing out!" According to NM’s sources, police gave strikers an assurance that "there would be nothing else" for a while.
As the negotiations and legal wrangling drag on, workers on the site seem keen to continue the picket. John, an elderly worker NM spoke to, said he was reluctant to strike, but now believed it was the right thing: "Nobody wants to do this, but it’s a matter of morality — you have to say to the boss "I’m sorry, I like working for you, but I can’t take your money and leave all them."
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