Employment Disputes – Woolworths workers unfazed by intimidation as first strike action succeeds

Nearly ten thousand Woolworths and Countdown workers are celebrating a successful first week of strike action today at one of the largest and most profitable retailers in the country, with workers unfazed by the attempted intimidation and disruption of strike action by a number of Woolworths managers around New Zealand during the week.

Ross Lampert, FIRST Union national coordinator for retail food, said strike actions had united and energised workers and there had been an overwhelming level of support from customers, who have been asking the union for how they can support striking supermarket staff. While many have asked if they should boycott the company until an agreement is reached, FIRST Union is not recommending that action at present.

“We’re now encouraging supporters of a fair deal for Woolworths workers to start sending messages to the company via their Voice of Customer (VoC) feedback system,” said Mr Lampert. “Feedback can be provided from a link on the back of your grocery receipt through the ironically-titled ‘ Countdown Listens’ website.”

“We’ll see if they’re really listening – our members are reporting that they’ve received near universal support for living wages, safe staffing levels and penalty rates in every Woolworths supermarket across Aotearoa. We want to hear their response.”

Yet Mr Lampert said union members had also reported regular incidents of interference, bullying, attempted intimidation and outright lies about legality that were repeated to Woolworths staff by company managers throughout the week. The company has also published incorrect and misleading bargaining information in a statement to media, which Mr Lampert debunked in an email to members (reproduced below).

“Managers have hidden members’ stickers, told staff to remove them immediately because it’s illegal – it isn’t – and in several cases, threatened staff with unlawful disciplinary action for participating in strike action,” said Mr Lampert.

“Honestly, the bravery and solidarity of Woolworths workers this week has blown us away. Members are unfazed, confident in their legal rights, and supporting each other to keep stickers on and flyers handed out until we hit midnight on Friday night.”

“We don’t think Woolworths are an ‘evil’ employer who actually want to see their staff miserable, understaffed and underpaid, but we really hope their priorities will shift in future negotiations – they should now be aware of just how much a fair deal will mean for workers, and we’re optimistic.”

While the union’s sticker and “receipt”-style flyer strike actions will conclude at 11:59pm on Friday, a social media and media strike are ongoing. Hundreds of Woolworths workers are submitting photos of themselves wearing strike stickers to FIRST Union’s private channels, and the union is posting galleries of striking workers on their Facebookpage at the end of every day. Many Woolworths workers are joining FIRST Union for the first time in a surge of solidarity with their colleagues.

Jasmin Ahmed﹡, a customer service worker at Woolworths Greville Road in Auckland and member of the FIRST Union bargaining team, said workers have enjoyed the week’s actions and are looking forward to resuming bargaining with Woolworths next week.

“Everyone is enjoying themselves! We had fun with the strike stickers – nearly every union member has kept theirs on all week, and customers have told us again and again that we have their full support,” said Mrs Ahmed.

“The cost of living is so high and it’s really hard to imagine surviving on the pay offer that Woolworths are talking about – it’s less than the rate of inflation and basically a pay cut for everyone.”

“Union members are excited – this week has shown us that we’re definitely ready for further industrial action if we need to be, and the public support has meant so much to us.”

Mr Lampert said that Woolworths must effectively consider the fair treatment and compensation of workers as a necessary cost during their current $400m rebrand.

“Workers just want to be part of the positive change that creates a higher standard for the brand in New Zealand,” said Mr Lampert. 

“They want to be a part of the supermarket’s collective future and enrich their local communities rather than printing money for overseas shareholders.”

As you may be aware, the company has stated in the media that they’ve made a “strong offer” to members of a 6.6% pay increase over 2 years. While we’re not impressed with the company leaking discussions from the bargaining table to the media, we have to address their misleading claims to you all, because what they’ve said is not correct or accurate.

First, the wage offer from Woolworths is not made in isolation but in a package deal where various claims, including many clawbacks (reductions to existing conditions), have been tabled by the company. If these clawbacks are agreed to, our members’ terms and conditions would be severely reduced and undermined, and your employment with the company will become more insecure and precarious.

Second, the 6.6% percentage offer the company is using in the press is an average over two years, which means that many of the wages on offer are significantly less than this. In fact, nearly all wage rates on offer (except one) are significantly less than the percentages quoted, one as low as 1.48%.

Further, their current offer doesn’t meet the current living wage ($26), let alone the new living wage of $27.80 that starts on September 1st 2024. It is not acceptable for the company to make an offer that is so far behind a living wage to its employees.

Apart from wages, the company has not meaningfully responded to our key claims, such as an enforceable safe staffing minimum standard, though they’ve stated that they’re aware of the significance of this to the workers. The company has also rejected the claim of penal rates, despite the company acknowledging that night and weekend shifts are the hardest ones to fill.

We therefore do not accept that the company’s offer is “strong”, either in isolation or when viewed as a package. Please don’t be misled by what can only be described as ‘spin’ from a well-resourced and PR-conscious employer.

We will be continuing bargaining with the company next week on 13 and 14 August 2024. We have strongly encouraged them to make an improved offer. As always, the union’s bargaining team is committed to continue bargaining in good faith with the company towards reaching a satisfactory agreement. We appreciate your support, solidarity, and patience and will provide further updates along the way.