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Reported violence against TNT workers in Australia is unacceptable



Alleged violence against TNT workers in Australia who were on strike in an ongoing dispute over a new contract is unacceptable. It was reported that a driver hired by a TNT subcontractor had driven a 4.5 tonne truck into protesters.



An angry Paddy Crumlin, ITF president, said that such actions had no place in Australia or any other country. “Violence and intimidation in the negotiation of workplace agreements cannot be accepted at any level,” he stated. “These workers are exercising their democratic right to negotiate a just deal for them and their families, and allowing contracting companies to run over peaceful protesters should be condemned.”



The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) reported that as a result of the attack on 16 February, on the second day of a two-day strike, two men and a woman had been injured at the New South Wales site.



Some 1,500 members of the TWU went on strike on 15 February in protest over TNT’s continuing intransigence over a new contract. The union’s demands include: a fair wage deal, company contributions to the pension fund above the government minimum and job security through enforceable rates of pay for outside labour.



Tony Sheldon, TWU national secretary, speaking on the day of the alleged attack, said: “With a predicted 10-15 per cent increase in Australian operations through to 2015, they have the capacity to pay. An extra one per cent superannuation for all employees and further increases over the coming years would allow members to retirement with dignity.



“But rather than using tactics like we have seen this morning, TNT should come back to the negotiating table and come to an agreement with its workforce that is fair, safe and sustainable.”