Vic: Armaguard action hitting small business

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2001
Vic: Armaguard action hitting small business

MELBOURNE, Aug 21 AAP - Industrial action by Armaguard cash counters was disrupting
small business in Victoria but having minimal impact on banking services, banks said today.

Members of the Australian Services Union (ASU) today began a campaign of rolling protests
against Armaguard - the cash transportation arm of Mayne Logistics - just days after the
company's drivers walked off the job for 72 hours last week.

The latest action involves 250 ASU members employed in Armaguard's key cash room in
Altona in Melbourne's west.

The workers are demanding better redundancy packages for staff sacked as a result of
Armaguard losing major contracts to competitor Chubb.

Other branches are expected to follow over the next few days.

The ASU said the action had thrown cash transportation to thousands of banks and retail
operations into chaos.

But Westpac Banking Corporation spokeswoman Julia Quinn said cash counters were not
used by the Westpac banks, and the action was having more impact on petrol stations and
other small businesses with high turnover.

"Even this impact is quite minor, as we've been advising our customers on other ways
of having their cash counted," Ms Quinn said.

ASU president Martin Foley said Armaguard was facing massive job losses following the
loss of major contracts in the bank cash transport business to the competitor Chubb Security.

Mr Foley predicted that if the campaign against Armaguard continued, cash supplies
would quickly dry up.

While it was unfortunate the public had to be affected, Armaguard workers were protecting
their rights, he said.

"As a result (of the lost contracts) hundreds of workers - many with over 20 years
of service - will be thrown onto the scrapheap with nothing," he said.

A National Australia Bank spokesman said NAB outlets were stocked by other companies
and would only feel the impact of the action if use of their machines increased as other
outlets dried up.

AAP jmw/clr/was/de

KEYWORD: ARMAGUARD

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