Cadbury Melbourne workers to go on strike for job security and better pay

Hundreds of Cadbury workers in Melbourne are set to go on strike to call for the international sweets giant to give them job security and better pay and conditions.

Almost 360 workers from two sites in Melbourne will be on strike from Friday until early Saturday morning, and will refuse to work overtime until Monday.

Despite the strike action, Cadbury has assured customers there will be “no disruption to chocolate supply”.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) said the workers were forced to take strike action because the global confectionery giant had delayed converting them to permanent roles.

The union claims some workers had been in casual roles at Cadbury for up to 10 years and the company was refusing to make them permanent.

AMWU National Secretary Steve Murphy said the workers just wanted certainty and security.

“Chocolate has been one of our core comforts during lockdowns, but it doesn’t taste as sweet when workers aren’t being treated fairly,” he said.

“Cadbury workers who’ve helped the company’s sales boom during a pandemic deserve secure jobs – jobs they can count on.

“Insecure work makes life more difficult and divides our nation. Workers at Cadbury are standing together so that every worker is treated with dignity and can feel secure at work.”

Cadbury, which is a subsidiary of Mondelez International, has two factories in Melbourne, in Ringwood and Scoresby in the eastern suburbs.

The Ringwood site has been home to Cherry Ripe bars, Picnic bars and Cadbury Easter products for more than 50 years and produces more than 450 million eggs and 15 million bunnies for chocolate lovers in Australia and New Zealand every Easter.

Mondelez International spokeswoman said workers were being offered a 9.75 per cent wage increase over four years.

The spokeswoman said 40 people had moved into permanent roles this year.

“Due to the seasonality of chocolate making, including the making of Easter eggs at certain times of the year, a portion of our workforce is employed on either a flexible part time or fixed term basis,” she said.

“These employees all receive the same entitlements and rates of pay of our full time permanent employees.

“We believe the wage increase is fair and reasonable in light of ongoing economic challenges, and a desire to ensure sustainable local manufacturing in Australia.”

jack.paynter@news.com.au