Petition is successful with 2,276 signatures
To: Emmanuel Besnier, Lactalis CEO
Lactalis: End this unfair wage disparity
Workers won the strike and have successfully negotiated a new agreement.
We are women of the Jindi Cheese factory. We’re proud of the work we do, it’s essential to the success of our company. We have worked here collectively for over 18 years and in that time we’ve received less than $2 per hour pay rise.
Our department has a majority female workforce. We earn just over $20 an hour. Yet 10 minutes down the road, the men at the Longwarry factory are earning $26 an hour. Nearby, in Rowville, they are earning $12 more an hour! These factories are all owned by the company who owns Jindi Cheese, Lactalis. Our work is just as demanding and fast paced as other factories but our pay doesn’t reflect that.
It’s not fair and it’s not right. Frankly, it’s disgusting.
But we are standing strong. All the women in our factory have been on strike all week and we aren’t giving up. We are sticking together as the United Workers Union.
But the company won’t come to the table. They refuse to consider a fair and decent wage offer. So we need your help to send Lacatlis CEO, Emmanuel Besnier, a message.
We want him to know that we want wage equality. We want to be brought up to the same level as the factories just around the corner. Just because we are women, doesn’t mean we deserve any less.
Why is this important?
Lactalis is one of the biggest dairy companies in the world. They are making mega profits. Yet we are barely surviving on their poverty wages. We can only just afford to pay our rent, soon we won’t be able to even afford to put petrol in the car to get to work. Women at our site have had to get second jobs as cleaners and gardeners just to get by.
In the packing department, where a majority of women work, we aren’t even able the higher classification levels.
We deserve to be paid equally to other workers. It’s only fair.