20 October, 2016A resolution at IndustriALL’s 2nd Congress in Rio de Janeiro supports the call to boycott union-busting Carlton & United Breweries.
In July 2016, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), maker of Australia's most popular beers, brutally attacked the employment conditions of 55 union machine maintenance workers – the CUB 55 - at its Melbourne brewery, ahead of the impending acquisition of CUB’s parent company SABMiller by AB InBev.
The CUB 55 are members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliates the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU). They were told their jobs would be outsourced to a new contractor but they could return to work as employees of the subcontractor - with a 65% pay cut.
The acquisition of SABMiller has been officially approved, giving rise to a global brewery giant operating as AB InBev. The new owners have expressed a desire to resolve the dispute, but after 133 days, workers are still walking the picket line.
Speaking in support of the resolution at IndustriALL’s 2nd Congress in Rio de Janeiro on 7 October, Andrew Dettmer of AMWU said that the union boycott of CUB products had already resulted in a significant loss of sales. The resolution was unanimously adopted at Congress, and IndustriALL has written to CUB demanding a just settlement of the dispute.
In solidarity letters to AMWU and ETU, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said:
“ IndustriALL is outraged at the behavior of Carlton and United Breweries in sacking the 55 maintenance workers at its Abbotsford, Victoria plant, and the offering of their same jobs back at 35% of the previous rate of pay.
“We stand together with the 55 workers, who have now been picketing the site for over 100 days. In addition, IndustriALL fully supports the call for a boycott of all Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) products, and requests all conscious workers around the world to refuse to consume CUB products.”
AMWU and ETU are affiliated to IndustriALL as well as to the food workers’ international, the IUF. Please add your name to the IUF protest letter by SENDING A MESSAGE TO AB INBEV calling on the company to resolve the long-running dispute and reach a fair and mutually acceptable agreement with the Australian unions concerned.