Supermarket giant Woolworths says it has taken a $50 million hit because of a strike, as it pleads with the Fair Work Commission to ban employees blocking its distribution centres
A picket line by United Workers Union (UWU) members entered its 13th day outside a distribution centre in suburban Melbourne and three other sites, leaving many shelves bare as workers seek better conditions and pay.
Woolworths apologised to customers for the supply disruptions, which it said in a trading update had cost $50 million in lost food sales.
It said the union was seeking pay increases of more than 25 percent over three years, at a time when the company was actively working to keep groceries affordable for customers.
The supermarket giant filed an urgent application to circumvent the strike action with the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday, alleging a breach of good faith bargaining requirements.
The matter has not yet been listed for hearing.
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It came a day after the union refused to give any assurance of safe passage for staff wanting to return to work.
Woolworths says the majority of staff at the Dandenong South site are not members of the union and want to return to work and get paid.
But the union says 85 percent of staff at the site are members, the majority voted to take action, and they’ll keep picketing until a resolution is reached.
Portable toilets and marquees have been set up along the footpath outside the warehouse as workers battle the heat and heavy rain.
Woolworths said it would try again to reopen the distribution centre on Tuesday, but would follow advice from Victoria Police on whether it was safe.
By mid-afternoon there had been no attempts to bus workers into the Dandenong South site, which accounts for more than 40 percent of the four shuttered distributions centres’ total output.
Speaking outside the Dandenong South site, UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy rejected allegations they were not bargaining in good faith.
He did not say how union members would respond if Woolworths attempted to bring in staff to reopen the centre.
“If Woolworths brings down a handful of workers who want to go in there it does not solve this problem,” he told reporters.
“It will not make this shed work, it will not fill the shelves.”
The Electrical Trades Union has made a $50,000 donation to the United Workers Union strike fund to show support for the striking workers, but Kennedy denied claims the union was covering wages.
“They are being well looked after,” he said.
The strike action has left supermarket shelves across Victoria stripped, with scenes akin to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One store in Ivanhoe, had most of its toilet paper aisle emptied along with portions of the bread and fridge sections.
Those ordering grocery deliveries are also warned to allow substitutions to ensure they get the products they want.
Warehouse workers say they are protesting against “unrealistic performance expectations” of a new productivity framework which they say led to frequent injuries.
They want better wages, as well as an agreement workers at different sites be paid the same amount.
Woolworths claims the demand to drop the framework would preclude its ability to manage productivity.
It’s believed the strike is yet to affect Victorian farmers, whose produce normally hits supermarkets closer to Christmas – but items such as nappies, toilet paper and drinks have been affected.
Woolworths is using contingency plans to minimise the strike’s impact on shoppers including building inventory at stores, leveraging the wider distribution network and some suppliers delivering direct to stores.
