50 years ago, The Express, September 3, 1975
Young Fagins dupe public
SEVERAL Yallourn school children are having a profitable school holiday at the expense of unsuspecting residents. Morwell CIB has received complaints from a number of residents that children are doing the rounds selling bogus raffle tickets. Police say the children have purchased ordinary raffle books and are selling tickets for non-existent football and other clubs. They warned people to watch out for the offending children and to report to police if they are approached.
30 years ago, The Express, September 5, 1995
CFA volunteers threaten actin over restructure
IN an unprecedented move, 100 Latrobe Valley volunteer fire fighters have threatened to take “militant action” against the Country Fie Authority over current restructuring proposals. In a combined letter, sent to the state chairman of the CFA Arthur Farn and Gippsland region (9-10-11) chairman Trevor White, volunteers from Morwell and Traralgon urban fire brigades have expressed “disenchantment and discontent with the consultative process”. The restructure is aimed at paid employees, but the volunteers fear these changes will impact the quality of fire fighting services in the region. They fear that under the changes, night staffing could be scrapped and full-time staff reduced from five to two officers at certain stations. The joint letter warned volunteers to take whatever action, even militant, to achieve their objectives of keeping to present minimum manning levels. “Because the SEC is now privatised, we (the CFA) have picked up its works areas as part of our duties”, said Morwell Brigade chairman Peter Quinn. These are highly dangerous and need specialised fire fighting abilities”.
10 years ago, The Express, September 7, 2015
Jobs to yo-go
Up to 30 full-time jobs could be slashed from Morwell’s Lion yoghurt processing factory, in what would represent a quarter of the plant’s workforce. A worker told The Express 30 voluntary redundancies were on offer, with targeted redundancies to follow if that number was not reached, within a two-month timeframe. “Everybody was clearly upset about the news. They were visibly shaken, and for many of them, there doesn’t look like they will have any chance of rehabilitation back into the wider workforce,” the worker said. The worker said the average age of employees was 40, and speculation was rife about who would be targeted. Lion corporate affairs director, Libby Marshall, said the company was consulting employees and the National Union of Workers to understand impacts of possible roster and work pattern changes. The worker said employees had been asked to accept a change from 12-hour to eight-hour shifts, adding 92 extra work days a year. “We have just put in a brand new pouch line machine worth about $10 million that hasn’t even started yet, and then they come out with this,” the worker said. The Morwell factory produces 30 per cent of Australia’s consumer market yoghurt and underwent a $50 million upgrade in 2012.
