AMWU members avoid sting in the tail

The AMWU was successful in securing redundancy pay for workers at Trailcraft after the company told them they weren't going to pay it.

WA company, Trailcraft, which sold its caravan building division and laid the workers off, told them they wouldn't be getting paid redundancy.

The workers contacted the union asking for assistance and organiser Ian Dobson found some anomalies regarding their working conditions.

Some of the workers had signed AWAs that the company hadn't bothered to register.

We took their case to management and eventually they agreed to pay them what they were owed.

The workers who were employed by the new owners are now employed under a union-collective agreement that protects their entitlements.

One of the workers said to me 'I never thought I'd need the union, but the day came when I did.'

Mr Dobson said that the new members were spreading the word about how the union helped them among their mates in the same industry.