NSW: Kent Brewery workers demand entitlements guarantee
By Kylie Walker, Industrial Reporter
SYDNEY, April 15 AAP - Workers at the soon-to-close historic Kent Brewery in Sydneytoday demanded Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) set up a trust fund to guarantee theirredundancy entitlements.
About 300 brewery workers met this morning to discuss their future after CUB's parentcompany Foster's Group said yesterday it would shut the brewery by 2005 and sell off thevaluable real estate in the CBD for $75 million.
NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson said workers were worried that accrued entitlementscould be at risk if CUB undertook a corporate restructure before their jobs were maderedundant.
"The last thing we want to see is a corporate restructure that leaves the Kent Brewerya shell company with no money to pay out entitlements," Mr Robertson said.
"The delegates today called on CUB to protect their existing entitlements by placingthat money in a trust fund, bank guarantee or similar form of security.
"This is a reasonable request, given the clear intention of the company to cease tradingat the Kent Brewery within two years."
Workers also asked for an increased redundancy package of six weeks' pay for everyyear of service, compared with the current three weeks per year, and offers of redeploymentto other CUB operations around Australia.
Failing redeployment, they demanded CUB provide retraining, employment placement adviceand written references for all redundant workers, Mr Robertson said.
"CUB has an opportunity to show that not all corporations are heartless," he said.
"The Kent Brewery workers have given their all to the company - now it's the company'sturn to give a little back."
Many of the workers had spent their entire working lives at Kent Brewery, Mr Robertsonsaid, and were "understandably upset" by the news that it would permanently close.
AAP kbw/nf/ph/de
KEYWORD: FOSTERS JOBS
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