Strikers on the picket line condemned Pratt for spending tens of thousands of dollars on flying scabs into the plant via helicopter while seeking to strip their conditions. They will try to replace us with contract workers next. Already the scabs are asking for three-month contracts. Ray Briffa, an AMWU delegate who has worked at Visy for the last 20 years, said conditions had deteriorated. Before, we were treated like human beings.
Management is ruthless.
They've gotten rid of half the workforce and are making more money. Other workers said those working on the cardboard corrugating machine were even pressured into not taking their lunch breaks. He pointed out that Pratt had visited the strike-bound plants personally to examine the picket lines. He's got plenty of power. Every year he builds a new factory.