Workers at the largest winery in the southern hemisphere have taken strike action, as negotiations between employees and a multinational wine company stall.
Key points:
- Workers at the Berri Estate winery in the Riverland have taken stop work action amid enterprise bargaining negotiations
- Berri Estate is the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere and a major employer in the Riverland
- The winery says workers will be better off under new conditions, while the United Workers Union say employees will lose out
The Berri Estates Winery, in the Riverland town of Glossop in South Australia, processes around a third of South Australia’s grape crush each year and has around 280 employees.
On Wednesday, around 170 of those employees participated in a stop-work action at the winery after six months of enterprise bargaining negotiations with owner Accolade Wines.
The multinational company has headquarters in South Australia and includes some of world’s most well-known wine brands, including Hardy’s, Banrock Station and Echo Falls.
The protest began in the nearby town of Berri before moving to the winery. The site’s operations were not stopped by the workers’ strike.
United Workers Union organiser Ben Reichstein said employees had taken issue with changes to superannuation and work hours put forward during the enterprise bargaining negotiations.
Supplied: United Workers Union
)“Accolade Wines through this bargain are seeking to remove a number of really important conditions which would leave their employees, and families in the Riverland, much worse off,” he said.
“Our members don’t want to see this happen because it’s not fair. They want to make sure that everyone who works alongside them is treated the same.”
Mr Reichstein said workers aren’t looking for a “significant pay rise”.
Winery says workers ‘better off’ under new offer
The Berri Estates winery exports around 100 million litres of wine to overseas markets per year and has the capability to produce 85,000 casks of wine each day.
It is one of the largest employers in the region, with the number of people working on site increasing to more than 400 during the vintage season.
Berri Estates operations director Tim Molloy said the offer presented to workers is fair and will lead to employees being better off.
“Base wages have grown at a rate much higher than inflation, by approximately 18 per cent, and sits well above the industry award rate,” he said.
ABC Riverland: Anita Ward
)“At the same time, what the company is requesting, there is a few new provisions that would provide Accolade with some additional flexibility to help it manage industry trends and customer demands in a challenging time for this industry.”
Mr Molloy denied the company’s offer would result in lower superannuation payments and lead to less secure jobs.
“The package we have put together will certainly not put anyone behind,” he said.
ABC Riverland: Anita Ward
)The stop-work action will continue until Thursday morning.
