Manildra electricians resume industrial action over stalled enterprise agreement

The facility's 13 electricians - represented by the Electrical Trades Union - resumed industrial action today, in response to what they describe as stalling negotiations on a new enterprise agreement.

ETU delegate for Manildra workers Rhys Arnold said that on Wednesday (October 5), a meeting between the electricians and Manildra ended in a stalemate.

Mr Arnold told the Register that Manildra "didn't have any answers for us."

He said they arrived on site Thursday morning (October 6) to begin new industrial action, and by mid-morning, they were ordered to leave the site.

This is the second time the electricians have taken industrial action, by stopping use of all company phones, computers and vehicles.

They previously took protective action for one week in September by the same means.

The electricians have been locked in negotiations for a new enterprise agreement with Manildra since 2021.

Among the workers' demands are a pay rise, income protection, and better fatigue management.

Mr Arnold said the union members want Manildra "to pay us what we're actually worth."

"When you break our salary down, it's very little: it works out to about $32 an hour as a base rate," he said.

"For an industrial electrician, that's very low.

"We've asked for fatigue management to be fixed up.

"We have asked for a few of these things to be fixed up and they've pretty much given us no answers."

In response to their removal from site, the industrial electricians of Manildra will establish a picket line outside the facility on Friday.

Manildra Group was contacted for comment.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: