The Guardian 8 November, 2006
Godfrey Hirst carpets workers
Three hundred textile workers risk losing their redundancy entitlements if they refuse to sign condition-stripping AWAs after their employer went into receivership.
Godfrey Hirst Australia, in the process of purchasing carpet-maker Feltex’s operation, has offered individual contracts with conditions inferior to those the workers had been receiving. The company also made claims that it would be free of redundancy or severance pay obligations if workers refused to sign.
Their union said the Feltex workers and their families had already suffered extreme insecurity over the future of their jobs and entitlements and deserve better treatment.
"Now, when they are at their most vulnerable, the choice they have is to sign away their rights on an inferior AWA or have no job and no redundancy pay", said Textile Clothing and Footwear Union Victorian Secretary Michele O’Neil.
The TCFUA has filed an application with the Federal Court alleging breaches of workplace laws covering freedom of association.
Victoria’s Workplace Rights Advocate Tony Lawrence said he would investigate the legality of forcing the workers to sign AWAs as a condition of employment.