SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES

Dear Hilton Foods Members,

As you are aware, the AMIEU and Hilton Foods have been in negotiations for a new enterprise agreement. The AMIEU and your EBA committee have fought hard to get the best possible outcome for all workers.

While the company would not agree to the wage rises the union was seeking, the company have improved their offer. The union believes now it is time for the workers to decide if they want to accept the offer or not.

In this newsletter the union will outline the summary of major changes in the proposed agreement. As always in negotiations, it will be then up to the workers to decide. 

PAY OFFER  3-year agreement:

  • Year 1: 4%
  • Year 2: 3.6%
  • Year 3: 3%
  • $299 sign on Woolworths card. This will be given to all eligible Hilton Foods Employees on a yes vote.
  • Back pay from August 3, 2026.
  • All existing allowances to be increased in line with proposed pay increases.

CLASSIFICATION CHANGES: 

The introduction of two more classification levels. Level 6 and level 7.

Level 7 – Line Leaders:

  • Line Leader A – $38 per hour (inclusive of first years pay increase)
  • Senior Line Leader B -$40 per hour (inclusive of first years pay increase)

Level 6 – $34.57 per hour (inclusive of first years pay increase)

  • Quality Assurance Officer (QA)
  • Knife-Room
  • Multi-Skilled Operator (trained and assessed at 2 or more level 5 machines)
  • Forklift Operator

CLASSIFICATION CHANGES CONT:

Level 4

  • Knife hands (who are also trained on two or more level 3 machines)

Level 3

  • Mezzanine Debagging.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS:

  • All public holidays worked to be paid at 200%.

ORDINARY HOURS:

  • Span of ordinary hours changed from 5:00 am–6:00 pm to 4:30 am–6:00 pm.

Note: Time worked between 4.30am and 5am the current loadings will continue to be paid.

PERMANENT PART-TIME EMPLOYEES:

  • In conjunction with the part-time employment provisions in the Agreement, a part-time Team Member may voluntarily elect to agree to vary their agreed roster and work additional days or hours at ordinary rates of pay, up to a maximum of 38 hours per week.

This agreement is entirely voluntary. A Team Member cannot be required to agree without consent and may withdraw that agreement at any time. Any withdrawal of consent will not affect the Team Member’s ongoing employment or their agreed part-time hours.

Where a Team Member has agreed, the consent allows the Company to roster the Team Member for additional days or hours, up to 38 hours per week, without those additional hours being paid at overtime rates, subject to the other provisions of the Agreement.

This provision is intended to provide part-time Team Members with greater flexibility to access additional hours of work while ensuring that participation remains voluntary.

CASUAL AND LABOUR HIRE EMPLOYEES:

  • Where a labour hire employee is directly employed by Hilton Foods as a permanent Team Member, a new 3-month qualification/probation period will apply.

The employee will retain all other existing protections and entitlements under the Agreement. The new qualification/probation period will apply only to the employee’s transition into permanent employment and will not remove or reduce any other protections.

OTHER CHANGES:

DOWNGRADE PROTECTION CLAUSE:

A new clause will be inserted into the Agreement to protect employees from being unfairly removed from their current classification. Where an employee is reasonably assessed as no longer competent in a particular job role, the employee will be provided with the opportunity to undertake appropriate retraining and regain the skills and competency required for their classification.

The clause provides a clear process to ensure that an employee is given a fair opportunity to retrain and demonstrate their competency before they can be removed from their current classification. This ensures that employees cannot be unfairly downgraded or lose their classification simply because they require further training or have temporarily lost competency in a particular job role.

PROGRESSION AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HIGHER CLASSIFICATION ROLES:

A new clause will be inserted into the Agreement to provide employees with fair and transparent opportunities to progress to higher classified positions. Progression will be based on merit, demonstrated capability and a fairer and transparent selection processes.

The objective of the clause is to provide all employees with an equal opportunity to develop the skills and capabilities required for progression to higher classifications. Hilton Foods will provide employees with reasonable access to training and development opportunities that support progression to higher classifications and assist with workforce development and succession planning.

DURATION AND RENEWAL AGREEMENT CLAUSE:

As negotiations for this Agreement commenced late, a new clause will be included to ensure that negotiations for the next Agreement are not unnecessarily delayed. The parties will commit to commencing and conducting bargaining in good faith and in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009, including the rights and obligations that apply to bargaining representatives under the Act.

ACCESS PERIOD AND VOTING:

A 7-day access period will commence shortly. During this period, all Hilton Foods employees covered by the proposed Agreement will be given an opportunity to review the proposed Agreement and consider whether they wish to accept or reject the offer.

The ballot will be conducted electronically. Each eligible employee will be asked to vote:

  • YES – if you accept the proposed Agreement; or
  • NO – if you do not accept the proposed Agreement.

Your vote is strictly confidential. The ballot will be conducted by an independent third party, and neither Hilton Foods nor the Union will know how individual employees have voted.

For the Agreement to be approved by employees, more than 50% of employees need to support the offer.

If the Agreement is approved by employees, it will then be submitted to the Fair Work Commission for approval. Once the Agreement has been approved by the Fair Work Commission, the agreed pay increases and any applicable back pay will be paid in accordance with the Agreement.

In Solidarity,

Warren Earle

AMIEU Hilton Foods Lead Organizer

0407 560 005

warren@amieuqld.asn.au