By James Wells
ADELAIDE: SA Unions claims that Radio Rentals is using new industrial laws to erode workers’ entitlements and has pledged to support the company’s striking technicians who seek increased wages and a collective employment agreement.
“Radio Rentals has locked out its workers for a month,” said SA Unions secretary, Janet Giles in a statement.
“Under the new federal industrial laws, workers have no recourse to the Industrial Relations Commission – effectively it means the company can try to starve them into signing individual contracts.
“These workers have taken legal, protected industrial action in order to get a collective agreement to get decent working conditions and wages.
“The company’s response has been extreme – an entire month without work. It’s an attempt to drain workers’ resources and drain their resolve. The company wants to starve its workers into accepting a shoddy deal,” Giles said.
“SA Unions will help these families to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.”
Giles carried through with threatened action outside three Radio Rentals stores on Saturday morning at 10.00am in three key Liberal marginal seats of Makin, Kingston and Wakefield, where she promised that workers, their families and supporters would “turn the tables on Radio Rentals” by handing out leaflets to the store’s customers.
“We want to ensure that voters in these marginal seats understand that they have the power to get rid of these unfair laws by getting rid of the Howard government,” Giles said.
“Perhaps Radio Rentals might act more fairly if it starts to feel public pressure. And perhaps the federal government might get the message that Australian families will not tolerate laws which can see the starved and blackmailed into unfair individual contracts.”