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AAP
AAP
Business
Nick Gibbs

Qld union protests over Golden Circle pay

Golden Circle workers in Queensland will stop work to protest a pay proposal a union says will cut real wages as the cost of living is rising.

The United Workers Union says staff are being offered between two per cent and 2.5 per cent in a four-year proposal despite inflation running at more than five per cent in the past 12 months.

UWU spokesman Martin de Rooy says staff will stop work, wear straw hats and carry pineapples while chanting outside the food-processing company's Northgate cannery in Brisbane on Wednesday.

The Northgate cannery produces more than 150,000 tonnes of tinned pineapple a year.

"This is a David and Goliath battle between Queensland workers and one of the world's largest and most profitable food companies, Kraft Heinz," Mr De Rooy said in a statement.

"These essential workers ensured well-known Golden Circle products were on our shelves for families throughout the pandemic and floods."

Golden Circle is a subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies.

"We are just asking for a fair go after we turned up every day through pandemics and floods and everything else," UWU delegate Natasha Wisniewski said.

A spokesperson for Kraft Heinz said the company had been engaging with parties in recent weeks.

"We will continue to focus on reaching a mutually agreeable outcome," the spokesman told AAP.

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