Angry … Ainsley Cleur has vowed to fight for better pay at manufacturing company Akzo Nobel despite receiving no income while on strike. He is pictured with wife Karen and son Lucas out the front of their Deer Park home. 28014 By Cimara Pearce
WORKERS striking at Akzo Nobel’s Sunshine plant have accused the multi-national manufacturing corporation of blackmailing and have vowed to continue their fight for better wages and entitlements.
More than 100 employees of the manufacturing section of the plant have been striking for almost two weeks without pay, in a bid to secure a five per cent wage increase.
Deer Park resident Ainsley Cleur is one of the angry workers protesting out the front of the plant.
Despite struggling to support his family and pay his mortgage because of a lack of income, Mr Cleur said he would continue to fight.
“They don’t really seem to be interested in making any movements. They’re obviously happy to see us suffer,” Mr Cleur said.
“They’re hiding under the banner of the economic crisis but last year they made one billion dollars in profits.”
Mr Cleur said Akzo Nobel had been offering voluntary redundancy packages to staff but he accused the company of blackmailing, offering inappropriate redundancy packages and “head hunting” staff.
“Before we took (industrial) action they said to us that if we didn’t take industrial action they wouldn’t make any of us redundant for 12 months,” he said.
“That’s without a pay increase though. It’s blackmail. We are being treated like peasants.
“We accept redundancies and we accept that they might have to happen sometimes but they could at least do the right thing and offer proper packages.”
LHMU (painters union) spokesman Tim Petterson said he was unaware of any redundancy offers made to staff.
Star tried contacting Akzo Nobel several times last week but phone calls were not returned before deadline.
Mr Cleur said he had been forced to loan money from relatives to help him pay his bills but he said workers would continue striking around the clock.
“I’m under stress and have this constant worry of how we’re going to pay the bills. It’s very frustrating,” he said.
“We have to (fight). We’ve got no choice now. We’ve gone down this path and so now it’s a matter of sink or swim for us.
“If we give up now we won’t get anything.”
