Warnervale: Woolworths lock out over pay dispute to continue `indefinitely’
Union officials will deliver a public petition to Woolworths head office after pay negotiations for workers at the Warnervale Distribution Centre — which services 72 stores across NSW — broke down, triggering an “indefinite” lock out of the facility.
Central Coast
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The picket line outside Woolworths Warnervale Distribution Centre has entered its 10th day after pay negotiations broke down last week, triggering an “indefinite” lock out by the supermarket giant.
Both sides are directing blame at each other with the 500 staff asking to be paid the same as their counterparts in Woolworths metropolitan distribution centres in Sydney and Brisbane.
Woolworths meanwhile has accused the United Workers Union (UWU) of pushing ahead with demands for “unsustainable pay increases out of step with economic reality”.
The Warnervale Distribution Centre services 72 stores from Sydney’s northern beaches, across the Central Coast and north to Tamworth.
Currently, under the lock out, local Woolworths supermarkets on the Central Coast are being supplied by the Sydney distribution centre at Minchinbury with regional stores north of the coast supplied by Brisbane.
The union is calling for wage increases to put Warnervale workers on a level playing field with other distribution centres, a ratio of 80 per cent permanent staff to 20 per cent casuals and conversion to permanent to be based on length of service.
The UWU is also calling on Woolworths to stop using “unsafe” pick rates — the number of items staff have to move in an hour — and improve the classification structure so two people cannot be on two different pay grades but do the same work every day.
“There is no reasonable justification for workers in a big city like Sydney to be paid so much more than regional workers doing exactly the same job,” UWU logistics director Matt Toner said.
“These workers have helped deliver record growth for Woolworths during one of the most difficult periods in recent history and their demands are very reasonable.
“We know that a lot of people are out of jobs right now, but it’s no time for any workers to be on their knees. This is about more than just these workers; this is about their whole community. Now more than ever, coastal, and regional communities will have to rely on there being good, secure jobs.”
He said the Warnervale warehouse staff moved more products during the pandemic than the last three consecutive record-breaking Christmas periods, helping the company achieve record growth.
However Woolworths has accused the union of being unreasonable.
On Thursday it put forward a pay offer increase of 3.6 per cent a year for three years,
the introduction of a five level classification structure and a casual conversion mechanism to permanent employment based on length of service, attendance and performance.
It also offered a clause to work towards a 80/20 labour mix of permanents to casuals, (excluding certain seasonal periods), doubling redundancy provisions to a maximum of 82 weeks (up from 40 weeks) and a couple of other sweeteners such as 10 days domestic and family violence leave for permanent staff.
The company said the deal would have seen team members earn rates of pay up to 50 per cent higher than the “award” and above those in comparable distribution centre operations on the Central Coast.
However the UWU rejected the offer because there was no mandated “award” rate for these workers and argued the offer still did not reach parity with other Woolworths distribution centres.
A UWU spokesman said Woolworths demanded the union accept the offer on Thursday before taking it back to members for their consideration and then introduced the ‘indefinite’ lock out of the warehouse on Friday.
Woolworths chief supply chain officer Paul Graham said the company regretted to introduce the lock out “but the union’s negotiating tactics have left us no choice”.
“We put an improved offer to bargaining representatives (on Thursday), with pay increases and allowances in excess of 11 per cent over the life of the three year-agreement,” he said.
“We also accepted six further claims from the union, including those on casual to permanent conversions and worker classifications. This was a show of good faith and demonstrated our desire to get our people back to work.
“Regrettably the union refused to accept our offer and continued to push for a shorter deal and unsustainable pay increases out of step with economic reality.”