Shoppers face ‘bare shelves’ as Woolworths warehouse strike begins

More than 1500 Woolworths warehouse workers will walk off the job on Thursday over a pay dispute, threatening bare shelves for shoppers.

More than 1500 warehouse workers at Woolies will walk off the job on Thursday over better pay.

Customers in Victoria and NSW may face “bare shelves” during their shop in the lead-up to Christmas at their local Woolworths as warehouse workers plan to go on strike in four distribution centres in an effort for better pay and safer working conditions.

A threat of ‘bare shelves’ looms in some Victorian and NSW Woolworths stores as an indefinite strike is planned for four distribution centres. Picture: NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Last week, more than 1500 United Workers Union (UWU) members stopped work for an hour across all shifts, agreeing to take indefinite industrial action at four Woolworths distribution centres in NSW and Victoria for better pay, working conditions and equity.

UWU members argued that while the supermarket’s profits continued to increase, wages had stagnated, contributing to the “growing wealth inequality” across the country.

As such, the union is demanding an annual pay increase between 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent.

UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy said “workers at Woolworths need a proportionate wage increase to deal with the cost pressures they face”.

The UWU argued that its workers were struggling to cope amid the cost-of-living crisis while the supermarkets profits were increasing. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

“No one wants to see bare supermarket shelves in the lead-up to Christmas,” Mr Kennedy said on Thursday morning. “Woolworths can fix this by coming back to the table and negotiating a fair agreement.”

The union also wants the supermarket to permanently scrap its “framework”, which the UWU claims is an unsustainable and unsafe management approach that pushes staff to work harder in an “already very dangerous industry … for fear of losing their jobs”.

“Workers have reported feeling pressured to cut corners and work unsafely or lose their job if they don’t pick at higher speeds,” Mr Kennedy said. “Woolworths must prioritise the safety and wellbeing of workers above all else.”

Shoppers in some Victorian and NSW stores may be affected by the strike. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The indefinite strike may affect stock levels of essentials such as toilet paper, milk, butter, toiletries and cereals. It’s not just supermarkets that may be impacted, as one of the distribution centres also delivers alcohol to Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores.

However, a spokesperson for Woolworths told NewsWire the supermarket is “not expecting any immediate impact to stores in Victoria and NSW as a result of the industrial action”.

“Stores in other states will not be impacted as they are serviced by their own local (distribution centres),” the spokesperson said.

In the lead-up to the planned industrial action, a spokesman for Woolworths Group supply chain Primary Connect said it had plans to support shoppers in affected stores by increasing stock levels and ramping up work in other distribution centres to manage the deliveries.

The spokesman said its main priority was maintaining supply for customers and was “deeply committed to reaching an agreement as quickly as possible so (workers) can receive the benefit of their new pay rates before Christmas”.

Shoppers have been warned of ‘bare shelves’ as a result of the strike. Picture: NewsWire / Glen Campbell

“We have already put forward several offers with competitive pay that is above industry standards, above local market rates, and well above the award,’ the statement read. “The most common earnings for full-time team members on the four DC sites is between $85,000 and $95,000. Our latest offers would have taken hourly rates at these sites to approximately 40-60 per cent above the Storage Services Award and well above inflation.”

The spokesman said that removing the framework, which is “intended to enable us to work with each team member to the best of their ability to ensure a fair approach to standards is applied to any personal circumstances or abilities” would give the distribution centre “no way to measure performance or manage productivity”.