Woolworths customers will need to be patient as the supermarket restocks shelves in Victoria, ACT and southern NSW after pay deals

Woolworths shoppers in Victoria, Canberra and southern NSW are being urged to be patient as the supermarket giant begins restocking shelves after strike action and pay deals won by warehouse workers.

Empty shelving in Woolworths at Camberwell, Melbourne. Picture: Alex Coppel

Woolworths shoppers in Victoria, Canberra and southern NSW are being urged to be patient as the supermarket giant begins restocking empty shelves following strike action and pay deals won by warehouse workers.

A Woolworths Group spokeswoman said the three impacted distribution centres in Victoria were now back up and running and set to deliver 180,000 cartons of products to stores across the state on Sunday alone, after a bitter dispute over wages and treatment of workers ended.

The affected NSW distribution centre was due to reopen on Monday.

“With just over two weeks to go until Christmas, we’re now focused on getting products out of the distribution centres and restocking our shelves in Victoria, the ACT and southern NSW,” the spokeswoman said.

“Turning back ‘on’ such a large part of our supply chain means it will take some time for our stores to look their best, and we’ll be ramping up as much as we can to get products to the stores where they’re needed most. Once again, we sincerely apologise to our customers. We know how frustrating it has been to shop with us in recent weeks across Victoria, the ACT and parts of NSW.”

United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy, representing the warehouse employees, said Woolworths had agreed to above-inflation pay rises and concessions about the operation of its contentious employee performance management framework.

Mr Kennedy said a new clause would be added to enterprise agreements to ensure workers would not be disciplined for the speed that they could work at, and an acknowledgment that not everybody could pick at 100 per cent.

“The new enterprise agreement won by workers breaks the link between measuring the speed of their work and automatic punishment if they fall behind – a system that effectively attempted to treat Woolworths warehouse workers like robots,” he said.

While workers won above-inflation rises across the four sites, the amounts were significantly below the UWU’s original request of 10 to 12 per cent a year.

UWU members at the Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre endorsed an offer that includes a 12.8 per cent wage increase over three years; an upfront $1000 cash payment and a $500 gift card; two more $500 gift cards during the life of the agreement; and weekend and shift penalties on personal/carers leave.

The agreement contains increased weekend penalty rates for shift workers; an increase in the forklift allowance from 26 cents per hour to 40 cents per hour, and additional allowances for positions with higher skill levels.

Employees will have the option to work on a public holiday for a 150 per cent loading and take another paid day in lieu, while a safety boot reimbursement increased from $100 to $150.