‘Stop the slaughter’: Aldi slammed by TWU after collapse of Scott’s

The supermarket giant is set to be inundated with furious protesters following the demise of refrigerated logistics group Scott’s.

Aldi has been slammed following the demise of Australia’s biggest refrigerated logistics group Scott’s, with the supermarket giant to be inundated with protesters from the Transport Workers Union (TWU) on Tuesday.

Scott’s 1500 staff members have been advised to keep showing up for work to ensure they can access their entitlements, which are worth a combined $50 million, after the company entered liquidation.

Melbourne insolvency firm KordaMentha has provided no end date for their employment, and is aiming to sell their fleet of 500 trucks of 24 warehouses, The Chronicle reported.

TWU took aim at Aldi following Scott’s collapse as it claimed the company has refused to sign a supply chain charter with the union, unlike Coles and Woolworths. It is also alleging the supermarket is attempting to silence truckies in court battles.

Aldi has says it “utterly refutes all allegations made by the Transport Workers Union (TWU)”. “This ongoing, targeted campaign to discredit ALDI by the TWU is both baseless and damaging,” a spokesperson said. “The TWU continues to make unsubstantiated and wildly inaccurate claims about both our supplier partnerships and how seriously we take the safety of our drivers.”

Hundreds of truck drivers and logistics workers will visit Aldi stores around the country to hand-deliver a claim to the retailer, asking them to sign up to six principles the TWU believes will make their supply chains safer, fairer and more sustainable.

“Gargantuan retail profits from a greed-price spiral and squeezed transport costs are hurting the economy, killing Australians in preventable truck crashes and sending transport operators broke,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.

“The collapse of Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics is devastating for transport workers and supply chains with no sizeable competitor in cold chain logistics.

Protesters will descend on Aldi. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“Transport workers are taking the crisis in transport to those with the commercial power reaping massive gains from the razor-thin margins of operators and owner-drivers who transport their goods.”

The six principles of the TWU claim are safety and fairness, transparency, collective voice, education and consultation, lifting industry standards and disaster preparedness.

According to recent figures, there are 40 supply chain clients reaping a total of more than $160 billion in revenue a year, TWU said, however the operators and drivers transporting their goods have tiny margins and the pressure to delay maintenance, speed, and drive fatigue to make ends meet.

“Workers have had enough of wealthy retailers, manufacturers and agricultural companies shirking their responsibilities for safety and fairness in their supply chains,” Mr Kaine said.

They’ve had enough of deadly pressures, bankruptcies and a rise of exploitative gig models as operators scramble with growing and unrealistic pressure for transport to be quicker and cheaper.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said action must be taken. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

“Transport workers are taking affirmative action today and over coming weeks and months with a commitment to further protests and convoys to hold wealthy clients to account.

“The Federal Government has committed to setting enforceable standards in transport to make the industry safer, fairer and more sustainable. It’s time wealthy supply chain clients like Aldi and Amazon stepped up to their responsibilities to stop the slaughter on our roads,” he said.

During the 2021-22 financial year, almost 200 transport business became insolvent, which Mr Kaine said was a “crisis in transport that’s killing people and businesses”.

Already this year, 45 people have died in truck crashes, including 10 truck drivers.

Aldi has also previously lost two legal battles attempting to silence transport workers speaking out on safety in their supply chains.

It came after Scott’s collapsed.

The push to hand-deliver a claim came after Mr Kaine earlier in the week called for the Federal Government to deliver “urgent” transport reform, warning “more businesses and lives would be at risk without action”.

He said the collapse of Scott’s was a “tragedy of a supply chain crisis caused by wealthy clients like Aldi squeezing transport contracts and profiting off the razor-thin margins of operators”.

“Unlike Coles and Woolies, Aldi has refused to sign a supply chain charter with the TWU and instead tried to silence truckies in court – but lost, twice.

“Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics is a major casualty of an industry-wide crisis that’s pushing operators and drivers to the brink, which will have an enormous impact on our essential grocery supply chains.

“Scott’s is not the first transport company to be pushed out of the market by profit-hungry clients at the top of supply chains, and it won’t be the last unless we enact reform to ensure those clients are accountable for fair, safe and sustainable transport contracts.

“Last year the Federal Government committed to setting enforceable minimum standards in transport. The transport industry is at crisis point – we need the federal parliament to urgently pass this reform to save businesses and lives.”

Upon learning of Scott’s collapse, an Aldi spokeswoman told The Australian that the supermarket chain had hoped the “challenges facing Scott‘s could have been overcome, saving jobs and maintaining competition in the road freight industry”.

“Following the challenges presented this week from Scott’s Refrigerator Logistics, we have worked with our existing logistics partners to ensure the 3 per cent of Scott’s business managed for Aldi now transitions to other logistics partners,” the Aldi spokeswoman said.

“As we transition the volume, we will work to minimise any impact to Aldi customers with regard to product availability, and to ensure continuity of product collection from our valued supplier partners.”

The Aldi spokeswoman said she was hopeful that the company’s workers would find jobs quickly, as there was a talent shortage in the freight industry.

“Our thoughts are with the employees directly impacted. With our knowledge of the road freight industry, we are confident the high demand for talent in the logistics industry means the employability of Scott’s employees is extremely high.”

The supermarket hit back at claims it squeezes supply partners.

“ALDI does not squeeze suppliers: The ALDI business model does not involve squeezing suppliers. Our low prices are possible thanks to our focus on efficient business process,” the spokesperson said.

“ALDI sets clear expectations with our suppliers to ensure there is correct payment of wages, vehicles are maintained, delivery timeframes are realistic and achievable and drivers take breaks as required by legislation. ALDI understands that it accounted for just 3% of Scott’s business. Any accusation that ALDI and our business model is responsible for the company’s collapse is wildly misinformed and an unwarranted attack built to discredit ALDI.”

It also slammed the claim that ALDI refuses to engage with the TWU.

“ALDI has actively sought information from the TWU: We have asked for details to substantiate safety claims made by the TWU and indicated our willingness to meet with the TWU,” the spokesperson said.

“Most recently, we wrote to the TWU two weeks ago offering to meet with them and are still waiting for a reply. We are proud of our safety credentials and we remain open to dialogue with the TWU, and other representative groups, to learn if there are ways we can improve. “ALDI engages fairly and professionally with all unions that have coverage of our employees and comply fully with the provisions of the Fair Work Act when dealing with all unions and their rights to access our sites.”