The United Workers Union (UWU) is calling for immediate Federal Government income support and job assistance for close to 800 tomato farm workers in South Australia, who are at risk of being stood down as quarantine measures are introduced to curb the spread of the brown rugose fruit virus.
The SA Government has introduced further quarantine measures at Perfection Fresh Farms, which prohibits shipment of tomatoes from the Two Wells facility. The quarantine requirements will protect crops but could impact up to 800 workers who face immediate stand down. This will include workers from Vanuatu and Timor employed on the Federal Government’s PALM program who face being sent home early and hundreds of long-term directly employed workers.
During the COVID pandemic the farm workers at this facility worked around the clock to ensure Australia had fresh produce during lockdowns. Now these workers face a forced lockdown and job losses as part of a quarantine to protect the supply of fresh produce to supermarkets and customers across Australia.
Comment attributable to UWU Farms Director Caterina Cinanni:
“We are extremely concerned about the workforce crisis unfolding in South Australia. These farm workers are some of the lowest paid workers in the state and almost a third are here on a visa program with no family or income safety net to rely on when things go wrong.
“During the pandemic these are the people that ensured the supply of fresh food and vegetables to everyone in the lockdown. Now they are facing their own lockdown but without the same level of income and job support.
“We welcome the SA Government taskforce that has been set up to look at assistance with income and job support. Our union will be fighting for a national industry assistance package to provide immediate income support like that provided during the COVID pandemic.
“Workers need a livable income, and they need to be able to return to secure jobs when the lockdown ends and the crisis is over.
Comment attributable to UWU SA Farms Coordinator Tim Nelthorpe:
”Union members have fought hard over the last decade to win hundreds of secure permanent jobs at Perfection Fresh’s Two Wells facility and this is now at serious risk. The company and the government need to work with our union members to ensure this crisis is managed to protect and maintain direct secure employment and that 800 jobs are not lost in South Australia.
“United Workers Union is calling on the Federal Government to convene an urgent meeting of impacted employers, industry and unions to agree on an essential food workers crisis package, which includes income and job assistance and a secure employment commitment that protects these essential jobs in SA.”
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