Davids workers call for union and community support
By James Vassilopoulos
About 25 minutes' drive west of the Sydney CBD lies the suburb of Silverwater. Here is one of the two sites of the dispute between the National Union of Workers and warehouse wholesaler Davids — the other being at Blacktown.
The picket line stands within smelling distance of the Parramatta River, across the road from the Silverwater minimum security prison and up the road from a petrol holding station with huge white conical drums.
When I visited the picket line, it was clear the workers are in for the long haul. There is the large tent with food supplies, tea and coffee. There is the rusted drum, embers burning brightly. There's the cricket bat, the Sony play station and the TV.
Most importantly, there is the comradeship and willingness to fight. They are working-class heroes, fighting against injustice and not getting strike pay.
I spoke to a number of the strikers, including Des Bowditch and Ken Stewart. I wanted to understand the real story behind the dispute, what their working lives were like.
The real story is about workers "expected to do more, for less money, and working under worse conditions", as Stewart said. It is the story of working in temperatures of -25 degrees, of surveillance, harassment, intimidation and serious health and safety worries. It's about treating workers like "shit or slaves", as one worker said.
It's a clash between a greedy boss and workers under siege as their working lives deteriorate, year by year.
These issues apply to thousands of workers across Australia, and many would be supportive of the Davids workers, if only the media publicised the truth.
At the moment the trucks are rolling through — the police are making sure of it. You got 10 blokes trying to stop these monstrous trucks, 20 metres long. No-one would want to get caught in their bull bars, which are as thick as a man's thigh.
Bowditch says he enjoys his job. He is laconic and relaxed, a straight talker. He has been working at Davids for three years. He does a number of different tasks: driving forklifts, putting stock away, picking cartons, and he loads the trucks.
Stewart has been working here for 20 years. He has done all the jobs; he has worked in the freezer, unloaded trucks and worked in assembly.
This dispute is in many ways as significant as the recent dispute between Patrick and the Maritime Union of Australia. If it is lost, 30,000 warehouse workers will stand to have their permanent jobs turned into casual ones.
Health and safety
At the Silverwater warehouse, about 40% of the workers work in freezer conditions — temperatures of -25 degrees. As Bowditch explained, " In summer you change temperatures from -25 degrees to 40 degrees when you go out to have your lunch.
"Your blood pressure goes up dramatically, you are red as beetroot within a couple of minutes of walking out. This can't be good for your health."
For working under these conditions, a grade one worker gets about $440 per week to take home.
Much of the work is heavy manual lifting, anything from beans to ice cream. In combination with the Antarctic-like cold, it makes the workplace an occupational health and safety nightmare.
Stewart said, "Over the last few years, back injuries here have definitely been going up."
One guy had a double hernia. When he saw the company doctor, he said there was nothing wrong with him, even though three specialists said there was.
The company told him to come to work on lighter duties. However, he was not able to come back, he was so stressed out over the incident.
The company said the double hernia was not related to his work and refused to take responsibility. He was out of work for three months. Eventually the company paid for the operation, but it never paid his wages for the three months.
The pressure to get more and more out of workers has caused a number of near misses, narrowly avoiding serious injuries. Workcover gives two days' notice before visiting the plant, which allows the plant to be cleaned and to appear to be safer than it normally is.
Davids is trying to casualise the workplace. This would lower wage costs and allow the company to work the workers to exhaustion, then replace. A casual work force is harder to organise and easy to victimise.
Australia has one of the most casualised work forces in the western world, about 25% of the total work force.
There are many serious social implications of casualisation. As Stewart explained, "The person who wants to buy a home and get married can't get a loan to buy a home, can't better himself — all to the advantage of the company".
Speed-ups
Management is always trying to get the workers to work harder and to increase the pick rate, the number of boxes or goods which must be carried. Workers told me that the boss reckons there is a pick rate of 100 per hour in the freezer. There is no such thing, but this doesn't stop supervisors harassing workers to lift their pick rate.
This pressure to work longer, faster and more intensely has serious health consequences. Bowditch, "There is no way we can pick at that rate, the way they teach us to the healthy way. If we picked the way which is good for our safety, we would be sacked very quickly."
Taylorism, named after Frederick Winslow Taylor, who measured through time and motion studies how long each task should take, is alive and well in Silverwater.
The workers have to punch an order into the computer, which then flashes on the screen how soon the order must be finished. Management can measure the time taken for each order and then pressure the workers to work faster. Workers are under constant pressure to perform, day in day out.
When workers go to the toilet, they have to punch in and out. One worker said because he had a 20 minute toilet break he was brought before a supervisor to explain why he took so long. The supervisor sarcastically commented that he "must have had a medical problem and should go see a doctor".
Another worker told me, "They really treat us like shit here, so I pick less than I can".
What's at stake
Part of the new enterprise bargain the company wants to impose allows it to sack them after giving two warnings.
For Bowditch, "This dispute is really about the security of my job".
Stewart said, "We want to keep the conditions we have. We want to stop casualisation, which threatens our own jobs."
Another worker said, "If we lose this fight, we've got no future. We could be out the door in three months."
This fight is not about a pay rise at all.
At a time of mass unemployment, the company is trying to increase the working week from 36 hours to 40 eventually. This is irrational when extra permanent jobs could be created.
Police
At this point, the trucks are rolling through the picket line. Bowditch said, "We are not happy with how it is going, because we have got no power to stop any trucks from going through.
"With police intervention, we are virtually powerless to do anything about it."
He emphasised that the workers were still determined to win the dispute. "We are willing to sit here as long as it takes to make sure our jobs are safe."
Bowditch put out a call for the public and unions urgently to support the NEW. They need numbers on the picket lines. "If we got the TWU's [Transport Workers Union] support, we could turn trucks around and the dispute would be over in three or four days. Else this could go one for months."
The police have sided with Davids: clearing the pickets, escorting scab buses and charging protesters. They have already arrested 200 people, although charges have not been laid. They are threatening to get tougher still, by charging people who were arrested previously.
In a major abuse of human rights and civil liberties, 50 of the workers have been sacked because they were charged by police for trying to stop the trucks or the scab workers from going in. It is likely that the police gave the company lists of those charged.
Bowditch said, "We may end up with a criminal offence, just for fighting for our job security. We have no right to protest and no rights at all."
"My father he went through the depression years, and it seems that we are heading back to those years, with those types of conditions. I find it hard to believe now that we are in the '90s", said Stewart.
Donations can be sent to 3-5 Bridge Street, Granville NSW 2142. Solidarity messages can be faxed to (02) 9897 3713. The picketers can be visited at 37 Bessemer Street, Blacktown, or at Newington St, Silverwater.