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Coles wins injunction to stop picket line

Coles has won a temporary Supreme Court junction to stop workers picketing a cold storage warehouse in Melbourne.

As AAP reports, the 650 workers walked off the job indefinitely on Tuesday and are demanding increased pay and improved job security.

The workers, who are represented by the National Union of Workers (NUW) are making the demands of Polar Fresh, which operates the Truganina facility on behalf of Coles.

Paul O’Grady, acting for Coles, told the court the picket line was preventing trucks from exiting not only the Truganina site but also other nearby sites at Derrimut and Laverton North, which had been set up to allow the business to keep operating.

Workers from those extra sites are not involved in the dispute.

“This is a specific targeting of Coles trucks,” O’Grady told Court on Tuesday afternoon. “One can infer it is to apply pressure to Polar Fresh through Coles.”

While the court heard the industrial action at Truganina was approved by the Fair Work Commission,  Justice Michael McDonald ordered the workers remove the picket line.

The matter will be revisited on Monday.

As the ABC reports, Curtly Tuala from the NUW earlier said the workers need better job security.

“We want a zero-casual site. We want a sense of security for the workers,” he said.

“They deserve a sense of security because we know what it would enable the workers to do, looking after a family and your kids and providing for them.”

Image: SMH

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