Woolworths racing to restock shelves in time for Christmas

The supermarket giant is racing to get festive grog and food on shelves after striking warehouse workers accepted a deal which included “above-inflation” wage increases.

Woolworths is racing to restock shelves in time for the Christmas rush, with the disruption caused by striking warehouse workers lingering despite an agreement being reached to end the dispute.

“Our three impacted distribution centres in Victoria are now back up and running, with 180,000 cartons of products set to be delivered to stores across the state on Sunday alone,” a Woolworths Group spokesperson said.

“With just over two weeks to go until Christmas, we’re now focused on getting products out of the distribution centres and restocking our shelves.”

The race is on to pack shelves at Woolies and Dan Murphy’s in time for Christmas. Picture: NewsWire

A picket line was in place for 17 days. Picture: David Crosling

Empty shelves at Camberwell Woolworths. Picture: Alex Coppel

More than 1500 staff went on strike on November 21 in protest at low pay and the proposed introduction of a system that would automatically penalise slow employees.

The industrial action led to bare shelves at Woolies and Dan Murphy’s stores across Victoria, the ACT and some parts of southern NSW, and is estimated to have cost the supermarket giant upwards of $50m.

Members of the United Workers’ Union decided to end the strike on Saturday after accepting a deal which included “above-inflation” wage increases.

However, the extent of the disruption meant it could be a while before shoppers were greeted with fully stocked shelves, the Woolies spokesperson said.

“Turning back ‘on’ such a large part of our supply chain means it will take some time for our stores to look their best,” they said.

The company did not put an exact timeframe on when its stores would be fully operational.

Originally published as Woolworths racing to restock shelves in time for Christmas