Community
20 August, 2024
Sugar mill dispute settled
CANEGROWERS has welcomed the end of industrial action at the Tully sugar mill.
Canegrowers chairman Owen Menkens said it was an example of what could be achieved when employers and unions negotiated in good faith and were prepared to compromise.
Tully Sugar said that mill workers had voted in favour of a pay deal tabled by the mill following recent conciliation talks with unions in Townsville.
“This is a good outcome for the local industry,” Mr Menkens said.
“It shows that a system exists where workers can be fairly represented, and which enables employers and their employees to negotiate an acceptable pay deal,” he said.
“Tully Canegrowers’ representatives have been working diligently behind the scenes with both sides to encourage a resolution, so it’s pleasing to see an agreement that is acceptable to workers at Tully Sugar.”
Mr Menkens said the Tully deal should serve as an example to Wilmar Sugar and unions who have been locked in an increasingly bitter pay dispute since last year.
“Wilmar and unions also went through a similar non-binding conciliation process but, unlike Tully, no solution has been found. As a result, half of the industry continues to be impacted by threatened strike action,” he said.
