Saputo dairy workers take wages appeal to Canadian big cheeses

Maintenance workers at Saputo's Burnie site are cheesed off, claiming that they are paid 21-per-cent less than mainland colleagues at the company doing the same job.

The workers last month walked off the job after rejecting management's latest offer of a 9.5 per cent wage increase.

With a resolution looking further away than ever, the national secretaries of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Energy and Plumbing Union (CEPU) this week wrote a joint letter to Saputo Dairy chief executive Lino Saputo seeking his intervention in the dispute.

"Negotiations to date have been protracted, with local management locked into a mindset of maintaining this unjust disparity," the letter by AMWU's Steve Murphy and CEPU's Michael Wright read.

"The relationship between our members and your local management is rapidly degenerating, with our members being driven to take ongoing industrial action.

"In the absence of any meaningful change or intervention, our members-justified campaign will have no choice but to become more public-facing and disruptive, likely causing significant reputational and brand damage."

The letter went on to accuse Saputo Dairy Australia management of wage theft, and of ignoring an internally commissioned review that the union claims found that workers were being paid less than their skills demanded.

Saputa Dairy Australia executive Gerard Lourey said the company scheduled a bargaining meeting on May 15 but the union declined to meet.

"[They] have not yet responded to our requests for a time to continue discussions," Mr Lourey said.

"Saputo ... is continuing to engage with our valued maintenance workers at Burnie and we remain committed to progressing negotiations in good faith.

"We want to resolve outstanding items with our employees and their representatives in a fair and amicable manner, and we are waiting for the union to come back to the bargaining table."

The wage negotiations between Saputo Dairy Australia and the two unions started in August 2023.

AMWU acting state secretary Jacob Batt said Saputo's Tasmanian workers have had enough.

"For too long Tasmanians have been treated like the poor cousins of their mainland counterparts," he said.

"It's no longer cheaper to buy a house here, pay your rent or pay for your groceries here, and now is the time for these large multinational companies to treat their workers fairly by paying the same rate of pay no matter where workers are employed in Australia."