6 December 2016

Ethical food supplier anything but ethical, say Ceres Organics workers

Approximately 15 distribution centre workers at Ceres Organics, an ethical food supplier, are taking strike action today as the company refuses to negotiate over wages, redundancy and overtime rates.

“Ceres Organics likes to trade off its reputation for sourcing ethical food, but the way it treats the workforce is anything but ethical,” said FIRST Union organiser Marcus Coverdale.

Ceres Organics claims in its mission statement to “believe in promoting sustainability of the earth and the people on it.”

“But it’s pretty hard for workers to sustain themselves on a zero percent offer pay offer,” said Coverdale.

“The distribution centre workers who help create the profits, the people who move stock around the country, are being offered nothing after negotiations stalled.”

“It’s hypocritical to claim you’re an ethical company if you can’t even treat working people with respect,” said Coverdale.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve tried to negotiate with the company in good faith bargaining. This kind of behaviour isn’t what you’d expect from a self-proclaimed ethical employer,” said Coverdale.

Approximately 15 workers will picket outside the distribution centre on Carbine Road, Mt Wellington, Auckland from 9:30am today.

ENDS

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