Mondelez Suttontown facility workers will now receive back pay and a wage increase, following a successful vote on an agreement.

United Workers Union official Tasha Linke said all workers would receive their back pay as of January 23 and the wage increase for the first year of the agreement had been applied as of the New Year.

The workers had been bargaining with Mondelez since June 2022 and Ms Linke said between 80% to 90% of workers had voted in favour of the agreement via an electronic ballot system.

“I am glad the workers were happy to see a good result for themselves in the end, they did everything they needed to do to secure that result and it was a good result in the end,” she said.

“The wage increases that were agreed in the end was 5% for each year across a 26-month agreement, so the expiry will now be a little bit later than what it previously was, but ultimately they still receive a 5% wage increase each year.

“The back pay will be back paid to the expiry of the agreement, which was June 30, so it will be quite a substantial amount by the time it hits their bank account, which will be nice following on from Christmas and holidays.

“The agreement is currently going through the commission, so everyone is just kind of waiting for that to be finalised now and for it to come into full effect once that has taken place.”

Ms Linke said the back pay and wage increase would keep the workers moving forward with the current cost of living prices and everything else that could happen in regional areas.

“There were a lot of other employers whether it be in similar industries or completely different in the region that were paying these types of wage increases at the time,” she said.

“So this just gave those employees a sense of keeping up with what was being paid elsewhere and helping them feel valued for the work they had put in through COVID and everything else as well.

“I think there is quite a few people that were happy to get what they felt they deserved and for it to be done with and back to normal for the time being.”

A Mondelez spokesperson welcomed the agreement.

“We are pleased to reach an agreement that provides our team with strong wage growth and benefits, while also ensuring local manufacturing in South Australia remains competitive and sustainable in this environment,” the spokesperson said.