Workers at factories run by US multinational JELD-WEN across the country have voted against a new agreement, which they said would see them slide backwards in pay and conditions.

A total of 273 votes were counted from workers at Corinthian Door factories in NSW, WA and SA as well as William Russel Doors in St Kilda, with 202 voting against the enterprise agreement offer, which includes a pay increase of 2.5 per cent, a figure workers say is “far below inflation.”

According to the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), JELD-WEN has adopted an unusually aggressive stance in recent weeks, with managers using lock-out tactics against the workers, many of whom are on $40,000 a year.

The latest approach adopted by the US giant, a direct ballot of workers conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission, was overwhelmingly rejected today, it said.

“This result proves that these workers will not simply lie down and allow this profitable operation to treat them unjustly,” CFMEU Forestry and Furnishing Products Division Assistant National Secretary Leo Skourdoumbis said today.

“To offer these workers an enterprise agreement that would actually see them go backwards in real terms is just ridiculous.

“These guys just want to get back to work under basic, decent pay and conditions. This unnecessarily aggressive approach from JELD-WEN is making that an impossibility at the moment, unfortunately.

“I now urge JELD-WEN to use this overwhelming vote as a turning point. Let’s get back to the negotiating table, let’s start being realistic and let’s start being fair, Mr Skourdoumbis said.