Woolworths Workers Vote For Initial Strike Actions Over Low Wage Offer And Unsafe Staffing Levels

Nearly ten thousand FIRST Union members who work at Countdown and Woolworths stores nationwide have voted to take three initial strike actions following nine days of bargaining with an employer that is "ruling out" a living wage and seems to have no desire to negotiate productively with workers to address chronic understaffing issues, FIRST Union said today.

Ross Lampert, FIRST Union national organiser for retail food, said over 95% of strike ballot respondents had voted to take three initial strike actions, with a smaller group of members across ten key Woolworths stores nationwide also voting for an additional action. He said the issues at stake were a living wage, safer staffing levels, and increased penalty rates for night and weekend work, which are common in other jobs that require people to work unsociable hours.

The three actions involve non-compliance with media and social media policies (a "media strike"), the wearing of a strike sticker on work uniforms, and for members of ten specific stores, handing out "receipt"-style flyers to customers in stores. Mr Lampert said initial actions were designed by the union’s bargaining team to be inclusive and solidarity-building ahead of any potentially more disruptive actions.

"This is a case of one of the largest and most profitable businesses in New Zealand deciding that their workers no longer deserve a fair deal and must accept whatever they put on the table - it just doesn’t work that way," said Mr Lampert.

"Our members are seeking a living wage, safe staffing minimum standards and fair compensation for giving up family and leisure time to work understaffed night and weekend shifts."

"Woolworths have consistently encouraged the idea that they are a market leader and a business that truly cares about workers, but that has quickly eroded during these bargaining meetings."

Mr Lampert said FIRST Union research showed Woolworths had extracted more than $1 billion in dividends from the brand to shareholders in the last five years. The company is in the process of spending an estimated $400 million on a rebrand of stores from Countdown to Woolworths, and revenue grew by $344 million (4.55%) in the year to June 2023. The company made $71 million in pre-tax earnings in the six months ending December 2023.

A recent report shows Woolworths wages have fallen behind new arrivals to the New Zealand market like Costco and some Foodstuffs sites around the country who are paying staff a minimum living wage. The current Woolworths start rate is $24.93 per hour, while Costco are now paying new staff $27 per hour and Foodstuffs sites like Pak’N’Save Kilbirnie have a start rate of $26 per hour.

Understaffing was a primary concern for many supermarket workers, said Mr Lampert. FIRST Union's recent survey of supermarket workers showed that 90.8 percent of respondents said their stores were understaffed, either "sometimes" (36.2 percent) "regularly" (30 percent) or "continuously" (24.7 percent). 39 percent of workers identified understaffing as the "single most important workplace issue for supermarket workers"; the most popular response to this question.

"Understaffed stores are less safe for workers and lead to more abuse and difficulty with customers, as well as making staff more stressed and prone to burnout. It means experienced staff don't stick around in their jobs and new arrivals to the workforce are immediately put off by the unreasonable demands placed on supermarket workers," said Mr Lampert.

Michelle McKenzie, a Duty Supervisor and FIRST Union bargaining team member from the Church Corner store in Christchurch, said that just two years ago, FIRST Union members had ratified an agreement that made Woolworths workers some of the highest-paid supermarket workers in the country, with a start rate at the living wage.

"We were so proud to have signed an industry-leading deal two years ago and were really disheartened to hear at bargaining that the company has no interest in being a living wage employer again," said Ms McKenzie.

"A lot of our team are really struggling week-to-week with the rising cost of living, and if you get an unexpected dentist’s bill or car issues, plenty of Woolworths workers would be at a total loss. We simply don’t get paid enough to put aside any money for a rainy day - many of us live week to week."

"Groceries, housing costs and transport are all getting more expensive - I don’t even shop at Woolworths, because even with my staff discount, I can’t afford to."

"It’s a really tough job. We deal with daily abuse in stores that are constantly understaffed, and we need Woolworths to listen carefully and understand why we’ve voted for these initial strike actions."

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