Woolworths accused of winding back remote work and weekend protections
Tuesday, 6 January 2026
Unionised workers at supermarket giant Woolworths say the company is trying to “claw back” remote working arrangements and guaranteed day‑off provisions for its call‑centre teams.
Staff claim the New Zealand subsidiary of the Australian‑owned grocery chain wants to wind back existing rights, including introducing a “flexi‑start time” that would require workers to be available for 12 hours a day while being paid for only eight.
They also say Woolworths wants to remove a collective agreement clause guaranteeing employees one weekend day off.
Last year, workers were asked to sign an updated work‑from‑home agreement stating they could be required to return to the office with four weeks’ notice
Union members of Woolworths’ customer care call centre teams, responsible for assisting with online orders, complaints, refunds and queries about its loyalty programme, took industrial action in late December after unsuccessful bargaining attempts for better pay.
Read More:
Restructuring overload: The hidden drain on company productivity
Woolworths staff walk off job: Mass strike action across country
Offshore outsourcing to rip through ranks at The Warehouse Group
Staff struck three times, despite being “locked out” by the company following their first strike.
Workers First Union organiser Elle Sun-Min Park said workers were served notice by email 15 minutes before the conclusion of their strike action, informing they would not be paid for the rest of the working day.
The union said striking workers lost a full day’s pay on December 24 because of the action.
However, Woolworths said the lockout notice related to the two shorter strikes only, which were communicated with very minimal notice. In one case, with less than 30 minutes’ notice.
Park said workers were “really worried” about changes to the work-from-home agreement - many saying they would be unable to carry out the role from the office.
“Many of the workers were recruited on permanent remote working conditions or have since relocated their families and lives outside Auckland, with Woolworths’ full awareness,” Park said.
“Many are working parents or looking after their elderly parents, and they’ve applied specifically for this job because it offers fixed permanent hours of work, having one weekend day off, and permanent remote working conditions.”
Park said workers had a democratic right to strike and called Woolworths’ decision to lock workers out, and withhold a day’s pay, a “despicable tactic”.
Workers First Union delegates met with Woolworths for four rounds of bargaining over nine days since early October. They said they were “deeply concerned with the conduct and approach” of the company’s Australian bargaining advocate.
“We’ve negotiated positively in good faith but have grown increasingly tired of seeing our valid issues and members’ priority claims ignored.”
Woolworths’ Contact Centre went through a restructure in August and similar job advertisements for their roles - which report to Australian managers and human resources - have been advertised in the Philippines.
Woolworths director of eCommerce and digital, Mark Wolfenden, said the company had been “bargaining in good faith” for more than two months to confirm wage increases and maintain flexibility to best serve customers by better matching staffing hours to customer shopping patterns.
However, what workers and the union were pushing for would significantly increase the cost of running the contact centre.
Wolfenden said the nature and duration of two of the strikes, along with the minimal notice given and the timing during the busiest Christmas shopping period, prompted the company to activate its business‑continuity plans. As a result, striking staff were not able to return to work on those days. He said the decision was not taken lightly, but it allowed the company to maintain certainty in how it supported and served customers.
“Currently we have no plans to bring the team back to the office, in fact we have specifically excluded this group from our Woolworths Group hybrid working approach. We are also supporting the 15% of team living outside Auckland to continue working from home,” Wolfenden said in response to an inquiry by The Post.
“In some unexpected or unusual circumstances, teams may be asked to be flexible in their start time based on customer demands. A perfect example would be if there had been a significant event such as weather disruption where we know we are likely to experience high call volumes,” he said.
“In circumstances like this, we may ask a team member if they can start and finish their work earlier than usual to help us manage a particularly busy time. We’d give them notice of this and they could also request not to have their start time changed,” he said.