Following a major lockout and strike by Kellogg’s workers in Australia over pay and conditions, a new enterprise agreement was rammed through by the company with the assistance of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Communications Electrical and Plumbers Union (CEPU). Workers at the Kellogg’s plant in Botany, Sydney, had been locked out after rejecting the company’s initial offer, which included below-inflation pay increases and cuts to overtime rates.
The unions, from the beginning, worked to isolate and demobilize the workers, refusing to mobilize broader support from the working class. The agreement ultimately accepted offered only marginal improvements over the initial rejected offer, and workers felt pressured to accept it due to financial strain from the lockout. The unions actively promoted the deal as the best possible outcome, despite widespread dissatisfaction among the rank-and-file. The agreement solidified the company’s ability to control labor costs and undermine workers’ conditions. The unions are criticized for prioritizing their relationships with the company over the interests of the workers they represent.
find the original article here: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/04/01/kekw-a01.html