Brewery worker agreement was voted on by three casuals

The enterprise agreement that sparked an ongoing industrial dispute at the Carlton and United Breweries' (CUB) Abbotsford plant in inner Melbourne was voted on by just three casual workers in Perth, two years ago.

The secretary of the ACTU, Dave Oliver, said this approach to enterprise agreements — which are supposed to be negotiated by the relevant workforce — was "gaming the system".

The EA was brought in by the brewery's new maintenance labour contractor, Programmed Skilled, which is based in Western Australia. It was struck under the name of a subsidiary, Catalyst Recruitment.

It is signed by an employer representative and an employee representative. The employee's name is not given — just an illegible signature.

Background Briefing found that employee in Perth. Ethan* was a 23-year-old student who'd been asked to do some casual work by a friend's father.

"I needed the money, so I basically just did random jobs like sorting out storage and going to deliver things to a golf course for a corporate event," he said. "Just random little jobs like that."

Ethan said he worked for the company, then known as Skilled, for six days all up, over three weeks.

During that time he was asked to sign the enterprise agreement.

He said he did not even know what the company did and knew nothing about the agreement he signed.

"It's pretty blurry; I didn't really know much about it. I just sort of signed it because they asked me to do it."

Photo: Union member wearing a 'Bitter Victorians' jumper in support of striking workers from Carlton and United Breweries. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter)

The Catalyst Services Enterprise Agreement 2014 has broad scope.

It covers jobs in manufacturing and associated industries, building and construction, joinery and building trades, electrical and communications fields, mining, and more. It's also applicable to all Australian states.

Background Briefing has obtained a statutory declaration supplied by the company to the Fair Work Commission as part of its application for the agreement.

It says that three employees would be covered by the agreement, that three employees voted on it and that all three were casuals.

That agreement was approved by the Fair Work Commission.

According to Mr Oliver, this new information about the origins of the agreement may provide grounds to challenge its validity.

"If there is any evidence that the employees were not fully aware of the content of that agreement or they were coerced into signing off on the arrangement, well that may be sufficient grounds for us to go back to revisit the agreement, and possibly argue to the commission that the agreement was not entered into in good faith, and should be overturned," he said.

"What is being exposed here is you've got a system being gamed.

"You've got a situation where an employer negotiates with three of their employees for an agreement that could ultimately end up covering hundreds of workers all over the country who have had no say whatsoever in those terms and conditions that govern their employment."

Photo: CFMEU union members rally at Carlton and United Breweries Abbotsford plant. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter)

In June this year, the agreement was rolled out at the Carlton and United Breweries' Abbotsford plant in Melbourne.

Fifty-five electricians and fitters were told that their current labour hire contractor was being replaced with Programmed.

They learnt that Programmed would bring its own enterprise agreement, replacing the one they had just negotiated with their previous contractor, Quant.

The Programmed agreement would significantly lower the workers' pay and conditions, with a provision that would allow the contractor to reduce their pay to just 50 cents above the award — whenever Programmed chose to.

Most of the workers refused to sign up, and for the past 11 weeks have picketed the brewery in Abbotsford.

It's been a long haul, and there has been conflict.

Programmed brought in replacement workers from WA and elsewhere, and the picketers have jeered and chanted "scab" at the mini buses with blacked out windows that take those workers to and from the plant.

Last week the Fair Work Commission ordered the picketers not to insult the replacement workers with words like "scab", "rat" and "fuckwit".

Photo: Picketers and protesters have been turning every week outside CUB's Abbotsford plant. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter)

Responsibility for this dispute is contested. Mr Oliver said CUB was passing the buck.

"What we're now seeing is a company has decided to outsource an operation ... and the management of CUB are saying, 'We're no longer responsible for these employees. The issue is between the contractor and the group of employees in question.'

"It's another example where businesses are just trying to shift their responsibilities back onto a third party, and are trying to wash their hands of it."

Programmed Skilled declined to comment. CUB said in a statement to Background Briefing: "We expect the businesses we partner with to be able to meet their contractual and legal obligations.

"Flexibility, cost and maintenance performance were issues for CUB with the previous contractor that we sought to address in an improved maintenance model."

Photo: Carlton and United Breweries are owned by UK-based company SABMiller. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter)

CUB faces various pressures in the current market. The company has a highly unionised work force which has, over many years, negotiated generous pay and conditions.

It's owned by UK-based SABMiller, which is being circled by the world's biggest brewer, AB InBev.

CUB produces some of our most iconic beers — Victoria Bitter, Melbourne Bitter, Carlton Draft and many more. But it's a tight market. Australian beer consumption is at a 70-year low, and craft beers are on the rise, threatening the big brewers.

"CUB has under-performed the wider industry in terms of growth," said Andrew Ledovsky, an alcohol industry analyst with IbisWorld.

"They are obviously a large player but there have been stronger performances from Lion [which makes XXXX, Tooheys and others], from smaller craft breweries who are expanding, and from compaines like Coopers and Asahi who also operate in the domestic beer manufacturing market."

Photo: Collingwood bar Kent St was one of the first to make a stand and stop serving CUB products. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter)

Meanwhile, the deals that CUB has enjoyed at many pubs and clubs are under scrutiny.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating the exclusivity arrangements that both CUB and Lion have struck with many venues.

Now the picketers and the two unions representing them — the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union — claim production has halved since the dispute began.

Pubs and clubs in at least three states are boycotting CUB products in support of the protesting workers.

"We are comfortable with our beer supplies," said CUB in a statement.

*Not his real name