There are around 500 workers at Primo and the big majority are immigrants from all over the world. Discussion had erupted in the plant several weeks earlier when cops from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) had taken away four or five workers on afternoon shift.

This time the immigration cops had a list of names that workers believe was acquired by going through company employment files. Supervisors called those DIMA wanted to arrest into the office and then went and cleared out their lockers.

Workers who were arrested reported that DIMA brought two vans to the factory on day shift but only filled one. A number of workers had gotten news of the afternoon shift raid and didn’t come to work.

In the sausage department two workers had tried to go home sick after hearing about the raid, but their boss ordered them back to work. When they were later summoned to the office they refused to go. The cops then caught one of the two men on the factory floor while the other was able to get away.

The immediate and overwhelming reaction throughout the factory to the raids was anger, both at the bosses and at the government. Workers wanted to know why the company did not warn everyone that a raid was being planned. Many opposed the way the Australian government treats workers, like criminals simply for working and trying to survive. One Tongan worker who was arrested has been in Australia for 22 years. Another has been in the country for 30 years. Most were newer immigrants without working papers.

On April 10 Sam Dua, originally from Ghana, began to lead an organized response to the raid. He spoke at both lunch breaks, in two of the main canteens, located on the cooked meat and raw meat sides of the factory, encouraging everyone to visit the detention center together the following day. "We need to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters locked up at Villawood," he declared. By the end of the day carpools had been organized and a number of workers who could not go gave money to buy food and cigarettes for the prisoners.

At the designated time, around 20 Primo workers stood in line at the detention center waiting to visit workmates inside. Just like the inmates, the visitors included a wide range of nationalities. Even without placards the group visit had a protest quality to it.

The latest figures released by DIMA state that 14,369 people who had overstayed or breached their visas were arrested in 1999-2000. Of these, 2,519 were apprehended at work, indicating that there were hundreds of factory raids. DIMA estimated that a total of around 58,000 people were living in Australia without proper papers, and that half of these were working.

Seeing the tall fences at Villawood, surrounded by razor wire, reinforced the outrage many workers had at the way their co-workers were being treated. The delegation, which arrived 30 minutes prior to visiting hours, had to wait for two hours in the hot sun to be processed. A few of the group did not have ID to verify their address and for this reason were denied entry.

The visiting area is a large grassy enclosure. As workers walked through the heavy metal doors, two or three at a time, their jailed workmates called out, very happy to see so much support.

Over the last year the Australasian Meat Industry Employees’ Union (AMIEU) has signed up members at Primo, although there is no Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) negotiated with the company. Pay is the minimum award rate for meat workers. The company weakens union representation by keeping most workers as "casual" for an indefinite time.

Workers are now discussing going as a group to the May Day rally with some placards opposing factory immigration raids such as the one at Primo. This year the Sydney May Day march is focused on opposition to the government’s treatment of refugees.

Joanne Kuniansky is a member of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees’ Union at Primo.  
 
 
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