Australian supermarket and retail chain, the Coles Group, last week indefinitely extended the three-month lockout of workers at its Smeaton Grange warehouse in southwestern Sydney. This is part of an attempt by Coles, one of the countrys largest companies and employers, to satisfy the dictates of the global financial markets, which are demanding higher investment returns and share prices.
The most immediate objective of the extension of the lockout is to starve workers into accepting a sell-out deal, pushed by the United Workers Union (UWU), that would result in the closure of the facility and the destruction of most, if not all, of the 350 jobs there. In a critical stand, the Smeaton Grange workers voted on February 2 to reject the com…
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