Strike ends at Woolies distribution centres as union accepts new offer
Industrial action has ended at Woolworths’ distribution centres after workers, who had been on strike for 17 days, accepted a fresh offer from the supermarket giant.
The United Workers Union (UWU), which represents 1,500 Woolies employees across four sites in Victoria and NSW, said on Saturday afternoon the company had agreed not to punish workers for their speed of work.
“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,” a UWU spokesperson said.
Workers will also get a boost in wages.
Evidence of stock shortages at Woolworths supermarkets on Saturday. (ABC News)
“This dispute is important because it was about the right of workers to have input into how AI algorithmic systems can be used to set the speed of work to undertake surveillance at work, and ensure a system that is transparent, fair and respects fundamental humanness of people,” UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy said.
Woolworths said the Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre in Dandenong South would re-open as soon as Saturday evening and the other locations – Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre in Laverton, Wodonga Regional Distribution Centre and Erskine Park Distribution Centre – were expected to re-open soon.
Woolworths Group chief executive officer Amanda Bardwell said that with just over two weeks to go until Christmas, the company was focused on getting products out of the distribution centres and re-stocking empty supermarket shelves.
“Turning back ‘on’ such a large part of our supply chain will mean 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,” she said.
“We would once again like to apologise to our customers. We know how frustrating it has been to shop in store and online with us in recent weeks in Victoria, the ACT and parts of NSW.”
Union members consider new offer
Earlier on Saturday, UWU members gathered to consider a revised offer from Woolworths.
“We’ve said all along that the company, if it dealt with the key issues around its performance management and gave a fair and decent wage offer, we could reach agreement,” national UWU secretary Tim Kennedy said at the site of the picket at Dandenong South.
UWU National Secretary Tim Kennedy says the strike has been hard on workers, but they had to do it for their own safety. (ABC News: Andi Yu)
On Friday, Woolworths had a court victory against the UWU, with the Fair Work Commission finding the union had been unfairly negotiating with the supermarket giant, and protest picket lines outside its distribution hubs were “unlawful”.
Woolworths successfully argued to the commission that picketing outside its sites was impacting on “good faith bargaining requirements” under the Fair Work Act.
The commission’s deputy president, Gerard Boyce, said he was “satisfied that the picketing had prevented access in and out” of Woolworths distribution hubs, and could be classified as “unlawful”.
Woolworths has previously estimated the industrial action at the Victorian distribution centres had resulted in it losing at least $50 million in sales.
Woolworths has been locked in a dispute with the United Workers Union which resulted in industrial action in Victoria. (ABC News: Brian Hurst )
The UWU has accused the supermarket giant of caring “more about profits than workers’ safety” during the industrial dispute.
Central to the UWU’s concerns is the productivity “framework” warehouse staff are subject to during shifts.
The union says the framework, which requires warehouse staff to achieve a 100 per cent performance target when picking up items at speed, is “dangerous, inhumane and unsafe”.
Woolworths has disputed the UWU’s characterisation of the framework, saying it was developed “with safety as an inherent component … [and] to ensure a fair approach to operational performance”.
