Picket line blocks bus from Woolworths’ warehouse despite Fair Work ruling

Shoppers will continue to find bare shelves at Woolworths stores, after a picket line prevented the supermarket giant from resuming operations at its distribution centre in Melbourne’s south-east.

A picket line outside the centre stretched across the driveway on Saturday morning, despite a ruling by the industrial umpire Friday barring striking workers from blocking access to the site.

A coach containing a group of people dressed in high-vis vests arrived at the distribution centre in Dandenong South just before 8am on Saturday, but quickly departed after the entrance was blocked by 10 people forming a picket line.

A human barricade at Dandenong South distribution centre on Saturday morning.Credit: Adam Carey

The supermarket giant has said it is eager to reopen its Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre as soon as possible, after the Fair Work Commission made an interim ruling on Friday that striking United Workers Union (UWU) members could not blockade the warehouse entrance.

There were two protesting groups outside the huge warehouse on Saturday. Woolworths employees and UWU members who remain on strike outside the distribution centre did not join the picket line. Rather, a group of sympathisers from other unions stood in a line to ensure the coach could not enter.

People inside the coach could be seen filming the stand-off on their phones. Members of the barricade group chased the coach along Portlink Drive as it departed.

The non-UWU group also denied entry to a Veolia rubbish truck that attempted to enter the site at about 10am. Woolworths is attempting to resume operations today.

A coach arriving at the distribution centre on Saturday morning.Credit: Adam Carey

Woolworths issued a statement at midday on Saturday calling on the picketers “to stand down and allow safe entry to the site for our Dandenong team members who want to get back to work after more than two weeks of strikes”.

The company said it was talking to Victoria Police for advice and assistance.

“The actions of these picketers are continuing to have an impact on Victorians being able to access essential grocery items such as nappies, drinks and toilet paper from our supermarkets across the state.”

The Age approached the non-UWU picketers for a response but they declined to comment.

Woolworths has said the industrial action has cost the company at least $50 million so far. Workers are striking for better pay and conditions, and in protest against the use of automation in the Dandenong centre that the union says treats people as though they are robots.

The commission did not order the strike to end, finding there was nothing to stop unionised workers from rallying at the four centres – but the picketers were ordered to allow safe passage in and out of the sites.

In a statement released on Friday night, Woolworths said it planned to reopen its major Dandenong South distribution centre “as soon as possible”.

The supermarket giant’s shelves have been stripped bare as the company was unable to restock groceries during a two-week strike that shuttered distribution centres in Victoria and NSW. Some Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores were also affected.

Empty shelves at Woolworths’ Southbank store earlier this week.Credit:

Woolworths filed an urgent Fair Work Commission application this week after previously attempting to bus workers – who were not UWU members – across the picket line and into the Dandenong South facility. The supermarket giant abandoned its plans, citing safety fears.

The commission heard that about 30 staff, including Woolworths managers, had sought to work at the site before the company abandoned its plans to allow some non-union workers to return to work during the week.

It also heard the centres usually had about 100 workers during each shift. About 300 people regularly work at the Dandenong site.

Woolworths alleged that the union had breached good-faith bargaining provisions because the picket line blockaded the site.

The Fair Work Commission found the union had an obligation not to obstruct work at the site, issuing a bargaining order against the union that it had breached the law in how it had operated the picket line.

Commission deputy president Gerard Boyce ruled the picket line across the driveway of the distribution centre had been conducted in a way that was capricious and unfair.

“I find that unlawful picketing or conduct that has the effect of obstructing the worksite has occurred,” Boyce said.

“I find that the UWU is not meeting its good-faith requirements under the act.”

Boyce also said the UWU had failed to provide evidence to support its position that the picket line was within the law.

Negotiations between the union and Woolworths about the pay deal continue.

Reacting to the decision, a Woolworths spokesperson said on Friday night that the company was “pleased” with the outcome.

“Today’s decision is a positive step for our team members who want to get back to work before Christmas,” they said. “It also means we will be able to progressively boost stock levels across stores in Victoria.”

The scene this week at Woolworths’ distribution centre in Dandenong South, where a strike has left shelves bare in stores all over Melbourne.Credit: Wayne Taylor

During the hearing, Woolworths described the picket line as forcing it to negotiate with the striking workers’ union as though the company has a “gun to its head”.

Woolworths said this week that the strike had cost $50 million in lost sales, and it expects further impacts on turnover until the strike is resolved.

The union’s counsel, Hugh Crosthwaite, told the commission that the orders were unnecessary because the picket had not affected bargaining.

“Bargaining since [December 2] has continued at great frequency, the parties are meeting regularly,” he said.

“Bargaining is progressing in a completely orthodox way. There is simply nothing in the bargaining process to remedy. Indeed while we’re here, bargaining representatives are bargaining.”

Crosthwaite also said it was “utterly implausible” that Woolworths could have operated the facility with the few staff it planned to bus in, as they were cleaners and others who did prep work rather than operators of the centre.

UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy said this week that the union had been bargaining in good faith for months.

“The best way to get workers back to work and shelves restocked in time for Christmas is for Woolworths to concentrate on reaching agreement at the bargaining table. Anything else is a distraction,” Kennedy said.

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