Woolworths staff walk off job: Mass strike action across country

Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Woolworths supermarket workers across the country are taking mass strike action today to rally for higher pay and better working conditions.

First Union said 9000 Woolworths staff walked off the job from midday to take industrial action, in protest against the Australian supermarket giant’s resistance to pay its staff the living wage of $27.80 per hour.

The union said it was the “first ever national withdrawal of labour”.

A central rally in Auckland took place outside the supermarket in Ponsonby, with union members from 22 Auckland Woolworths stores taking part.

Hundreds of staff marched down Williamson Ave and were holding up signs, some read “Woolies are bullies” and “Woolies = wealth over wages”.

Supermarket staff protest outside Ponsonby supermarket demanding better pay and conditions.

In Christchurch, about 100 protesters met outside the Moorhouse Ave supermarket, some travelling from across the city to take part.

Worker Michelle McKenzie said some of her colleagues were really struggling, and deserved to get the living wage.

“We shouldn't have people that are working 40 hours a week and can't even afford to put food on their table.”

Another worker, who would not be named, said she was not hopeful pay would increase, and the divide between workers and management was too great.

“Nothing changes around here. We’re in this alone.”

She offered a challenge to Woolworths managers to live on a worker’s wages for a month to see what surviving below the living wage was really like.

Staff safety was not prioritised, and Woolworths appeared to be more focused on money, she said.

“The security guards don’t stick around at the end of a night shift. I’ve asked many times if they can walk the female staff to our cars but they say it costs too much.”

More than 40 rallies were also planned across the country in between 12pm and 2pm on Tuesday.

Woolworths staff picket on Moorhouse Ave in Christchurch. on Tuesday, calling for a pay rise so they can reach the living wage.

First Union national secretary for retail and finance Rudd Hughes said members had negotiated with Woolworths for 13 days, seeking a fair deal for workers, but the union was “still miles apart from the company on the most basic issues of pay, safety and staffing”.

It would like to see Woolworths move to the living wage base rate at the entry level, or a clear and achievable pathway to get to that.

“Woolworths have offered minimal wage increases below the rising household cost of living, sought reductions to workers’ existing employment conditions, and proposed pay rates that are falling behind their competitors,” Hughes said.

Woolworths employee Michelle McKenzie says workers want the living wage, something that’s “not a huge amount” to ask for.

“They are one half of a duopoly that dominates our domestic food market and has churned out more than $1 billion in dividends to Woolworths shareholders in the last five years. A lack of money is not the issue here ‒ it’s a lack of will, and a lack of ambition.”

Woolworths NZ’s earnings before tax declined by 57.2% in the past year to $108m, the lowest in the past 10 years.

Despite this, its sales increased by 1.3% in the year end to June while wages had increased 19% over the past two years, the company said.

Hughes said Woolworths workers felt that protecting profit levels was more important to the company than protecting workers in stores.

“They cannot expect to make insane, record-breaking profits every year, especially while retrofitting and rebranding more than 70 of 185 stores during their $400m name change,” he said.

“Raising safe staffing standards with them seems like an inconvenience rather than an opportunity to deter rising levels of abuse and theft by customers. They’re trying to deal with increasing violence against staff but will not address the number of people working in stores.”

A Woolworths spokesperson said making sure its team was paid fairly had “always been a priority”.

The Commerce Commission says there has been no improvement in grocery market competition in recent years.

“We’ve brought a strong offer to the table in our discussions with First Union. This includes a wage rate increase for our store team between 6.8-10.1% over two years, further to the 19% increase we agreed in 2022. We are one of the leaders in pay for our sector.”

First Union said Woolworths supermarket pay rates were barely enough for many to survive, and its members deserved safe staffing levels in stores to protect their well being and reduced the stress of over-work.

The union represents 10,000 Woolworths retail workers in 190 stores.

First Union’s June survey of supermarket workers found 90% said their stores were “understaffed”, and 39% said under staffing was the “single most important workplace issue” for supermarket workers.

Supermarkets are back in the spotlight following the release of the Commerce Commission’s first annual grocery report last week that painted a “concerning picture” of the $25b industry.

Grocery commissioner Pierre van Heerden said there had been no meaningful improvement in competition in the industry to bring down grocery prices since the release of the grocery market study released two years ago.

Foodstuffs, the operator of Pak’nSave and New World, and Woolworths combined account for 82% of all grocery market revenue in this country ‒ just 1% less than they did in 2019.