Surprise reaction to bare shelves at Woolies

Australians have been left facing empty shelves thanks to a supermarket warehouse strike — and some are saying it’s worse than the pandemic.

Australians have been left facing empty shelves thanks to a supermarket warehouse strike — and some are saying it’s worse than the pandemic.

An image posted to Reddit showed the cleaning aisle at a Woolworths store. The aisle was essentially stripped bare. It was covered with “temporary supply interruption” and yellow discount stickers.

“Nothing is in stock. I’ve never left empty-handed from a store, even during the troubles of 2020-2022,” the image was captioned.

“I’m only going in because it’s the only option that’s open late.”

The bare shelves have to do with strikes in four Woolworths distribution centres. This means, nothing is going from the warehouse to stores. The strike has been going for two weeks. It has impacted three distribution centres in Victoria and one in New South Wales.

Bare shelves at Woolworths. Picture: Reddit

Stock is still coming into stores but at a slower rate. Fresh fruit, vegetables and meat have not been impacted by the strike. Customers can check in-store stock on the Woolworths app.

Members of the United Workers Union are demanding an immediate 25 per cent increase in wages, and a further 30 per cent over the next two years. It also wants the removable of “Framework”. The union argues the system pushes staff to work to unreasonable lengths.

news.com.au understands Woolworths are at the Fair Work Commission on an application to have the union stop physically blocking access to one of the distribution centres. Stopping the blockage could mean stock could start flowing to stores normally.

Empty shelves would normally be something that angered shoppers. However many social media users were weren't bothered.

“That’s literally the point [of the strike],” one said.

One said: “Good. Tell them to treat their workers like humans and get rid of the 100 per cent efficiency BS. Let the shelves be empty as long as it takes.”

“Vote with your wallet, support your worker,” one added.

One commented: “There is no point, which is exactly what the striking workers want – for Woolies to take a financial hit when you are forced to shop elsewhere.”

A picket line continues in Dandenong South at a distribution centre for Woolworths. Picture: David Crosling

A spokesperson from the supermarket told news.com.au it appreciates the patience of customers during this time.

“Stores in Victoria, southern New South Wales and the ACT are experiencing limited stock flow on some lines due to industrial action in four of our distribution centres,” the spokesperson said.

“We appreciate the patience of our customers and thank them for their understanding and treating our store teams with respect. We acknowledge this is frustrating and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

“All stores are still receiving regular deliveries of stock, though at a reduced frequency. The degree of stock flow challenge varies from store to store.

“We are supporting regular deliveries to stores using the other 20 DCs and 8,000 team members in our national network.

“We are working hard to resolve this dispute. We value our team and are deeply committed to reaching an agreement as quickly as possible so they can receive the benefit of their new pay rates before Christmas.

“We have already put forward several offers with competitive pay that is above industry standards, above local market rates, above inflation, and well above the Award.”