Source: Workers First Union
Woolworths, one half of New Zealand’s supermarket duopoly, looks set to send around 130 New Zealanders’ jobs to Australia after announcing consultation today on a plan to close its Customer Care Centre, Workers First said today.
Over 130 workers who provide customer support to New Zealanders were called to a meeting at 1pm today and told that consultation is beginning on the offshoring of their jobs to Australia in a “cost-saving” proposal that the company believes will net them an extra $4.1 million by the 2029 financial year. Consultation on the proposal begins today and the deadline for feedback from affected workers is September 15.
Rudd Hughes, Workers First Deputy Secretary, said the proposal was another form of “corporate greed”, and called on New Zealanders to send their feedback to the company at: Workplace.Relations@Woolworths.co.nz.
“This is yet another example of New Zealanders losing out to Australia because companies like Woolworths see them as expendable,” said Mr Hughes.
“They’re happy to earn big profits in our country and make Kiwis reliant on their supermarkets, but they are planning to throw away more than a hundred of our jobs to save a very small amount of money over the next three years.”
“There should be a reasonable expectation that a large company like Woolworths should reinvest into the society where its customer base is generating those profits – but Woolworths seem to care only about their bottom lines.”
Woolworths recently announced their improving financial performance; returning $163 million in earnings before interest and tax in the year to June 2026 – up 8.8% from the previous year – which Consumer NZ said would “feel wrong” to New Zealanders given its $400 million plus spend on its store refreshes.
Mr Hughes said union organisers reported that at today’s 20-minute meeting, Woolworths representatives said that workers’ views are ‘very important’ but refused to answer questions and closed the meeting after reading from their script. Organisers said that some staff returned to work afterwards in tears and were wondering if their feedback would be considered at all.
“These are the same workers who were locked out by Woolworths at Christmas because they wouldn’t accept worse terms and conditions, and this proposal is a further slap in the face,” said Mr Hughes.
“Woolworths wasted over $400 million to re-rebrand themselves and are now axing over a hundred New Zealand jobs just to claw back around one percent of that cost.”
“Many of the Customer Care team are sole parents who work remotely and will not find redeployment or comparable employment in their regions – this proposal will be crushing to hear about today.”
Mr Hughes said that Workers First had provided feedback on the proposal to the company and would continue to advocate for union members during the consultation period.
“New Zealanders should take note that this could also mean worse service for Woolworths customers,” said Mr Hughes. “Someone calling from Paekākāriki to inquire about a product return, for example, may find it much more difficult to deal with an Australian who lacks local knowledge and local experience.”
“This kind of proposal is also an indictment of the weak Coalition Government, which has set the scene for businesses to flee NZ in search of more profit and failed abjectly to protect local jobs.”
“With a runaway unemployment rate at 5.6%, now is not the time to be putting New Zealanders out of work.”
The proposed closure of the New Zealand Customer Care Centre follows Woolworths’ recent restructuring of South Island store butchers, in which around 40 jobs have been lost.
Mr Hughes encouraged New Zealanders to write to Woolworths to express their concerns by emailing Workplace.Relations@Woolworths.co.nz.