More than 30 workers at the Preston Motors plant in Campbellfield went on strike at 6am on March 13 over the company's continued refusal to negotiate a meaningful wage increase. The National Union of Workers (NUW) members have been attempting to conclude a new union collective agreement with the company after the previous agreement expired in September 2006.
After offering numerous concessions to the company in an effort to remain at work, the "workers had no option but to take industrial action after the company proposed to increase wages by just $4 a week", NUW state secretary Antony Thow said. "These workers have not received a pay rise for almost 18 months ... In the year to December, the cost of food has risen by over 8%, the cost of health care by over 5%, and education by over 4%. These workers, many of whom have families, rightly decided $4 a week wasn't a reflection of today's cost of living or the effort they put in at work."
Workers' rights supporters can visit the picket at Preston Motors, 1551 Sydney Road, Campbellfield. The workers at Preston Motors' Dandenong and Geelong sites are also on strike.