After two days on strike, United Workers Union (UWU) members across seven Toll distribution centres have claimed a victory and will return to work ahead of the busy Christmas shopping period.

Members at five sites in Victoria, one in South Australia and one in New South Wales have today voted to accept a new offer from Toll after negotiations went late into last night.

The new offer includes a 3 percent pay increase each year for three years, more than 100 new permanent jobs, improved union and training rights, increased redundancy, and a guarantee that if workers are moved to a new Toll distribution centre their wages and redundancy provisions will be maintained. The new agreement will cover all new Toll warehouses with a minimum starter rate of $25-an-hour at every site.

Comments attributable to UWU National Secretary Tim Kennedy:

“Our entire union – 150,000 workers in different industries across the country – congratulate the workers at Toll who took the brave step to hold the line. Their efforts have paid off.

“This dispute also shows that big companies and corporations are disconnected from reality. Workers, economists, politicians and even the governor of the reserve bank have been saying for some years that stagnating wages are hurting all of us, meanwhile workers at Toll were forced to take strike action for a 3 percent wage increase and workers at Country Road are still on strike trying to improve their wages by $1-an-hour.”

ENDS

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