SPC Ardmona busts myths about "over-generous" staff allowances

SPC Ardmona has hit back against accusations that its “over-generous” staff allowances are the cause of its difficulties. The company has issued a media release challenging what it says are false claims about the business, including that it is a “union shop”.

“The total cost of allowances for all production staff at SPC Ardmona for the entire year of 2013 was $116,467, which represents less than 0.1% of the business’s cost of goods for the year,” the media release said.

“We are doing our best to reduce all costs across the business; however, the serious problems that have beset SPCA have not been because of labour costs and certainly not from the allowances, a fact borne out by the Productivity Commission’s recent analysis,” said SPC Ardmona Managing Director Peter Kelly.

Kelly said the business has been damaged by the ‘perfect storm’ created by the high Australian dollar, cheap imports and the growth of private label canned fruit.

The SPC Ardmona media release busted multiple myths that have been circulated about the company, including:

• Employees are entitled to nine weeks’ paid leave each year. Employees receive 20 days’ paid leave, the company says.
• Sick leave is paid out in cash each year. SPC Ardmona says this practice was removed from the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) in 2012.
• Shift loading and penalties are above the award rate. The company says its shift loading and penalties are the same or similar to many Australian EBAs: the afternoon shift is at 20% loading and night shift at 30%.
• Cleaners receive a ‘wet’ allowance of 58 cents/h. The company says $0 in wet allowances was paid in 2013.

In addition, 32% of positions across the company have been made redundant since 2011 and 73 maintenance positions were made redundant in order to outsource the function to an external maintenance service provider.

“Our employees are aware of the critical and urgent need to transform our business and the majority have responded in practical and financial ways to lift productivity to help secure our long-term future in the Goulburn Valley,” Kelly said.

“We have been assessing work practices for many months and have made significant improvements in productivity.”