Woolworths workers walk out

Blenheim’s three Woolworths supermarkets saw staff walk out for two hours this afternoon to join thousands of colleagues nationwide on strike.

Woolworths department managers, duty managers, shelf stackers and checkout staff from Blenheim, Redwoodtown and Springlands stores walked out from midday until 2pm, after 13 days of failed negotiations between FIRST Union and Woolworths.

The strike action on Seymour Street saw approximately 40 staff on strike, with many passersby giving supportive horn honks.

A local FIRST Union representative, speaking anonymously, told the Marlborough Weekly that Woolworths workers nationwide have had enough of being underpaid, understaffed and mistreated by both head office and increasingly by unruly customers.

“Our internal issues we have aren’t with our local store managers, it’s with head office not being fair towards their ground level employees when it comes to pay, staffing levels, and workplace safety”, they say.

“Woolworths has spent $400 million on rebranding across New Zealand and, if he meets the targets that really we have to meet, the CEO is in for a $24 million bonus while our store is losing a 35 hour a week employee who isn’t being replaced as we’re expected to pick up the slack.

"There’s no shortage of money, it’s just not coming to us in the stores”.

The spokesperson says the difference from being a ‘hero’ essential worker to the current treatment from head office is remarkable.

“Through Covid, head office continually held us up as essential workers to be proud of, but a couple of years now we feel unheard and cast aside with staff vacancies not being filled”, they said.

“There’s very little wiggle room for pay rates, and most people here are earning less than minimum wage - I’m officially a 27-hour contract but working upwards of 35 to afford living.

“Many people have to take the extra hours because otherwise they’re not putting dinner on the table for their families - I’m grateful I just have to look after myself”.

The union representative also highlighted staff safety concerns leaving them unequipped to deal with stressful situations.

“Our checkout staff generally cop the brunt of abuse from unruly customers, and managers are starting to carry body cameras and radios for their own and their staff’s safety just to get trolleys from carparks, which is completely unfair.

“There’re regular evenings with one supervisor covering restricted sales, the Lotto desk, staffing breaks and their own responsibilities which have roll on effects.

“Just recently, staff have had to deal with drunk, loud and obnoxious customers abusing and baiting staff from outside the store which just isn’t our job to deal with, especially here in Blenheim.

“It’s a stressful time for many, but the drop in appreciation has been huge - we’re still doing essential jobs for people to feed their families, but when we’re struggling to feed our families ourselves without the help of overtime, it just isn’t right”.

“Making sure our team is paid fairly has always been a priority for us and we’ve brought a strong offer to the table in our discussions with FIRST Union", said a Woolworths New Zealand spokesperson in response.

"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.

“We offer a range of team benefits and since 2022 we’ve improved sick leave benefits, increased bereavement leave, increased primary caregiver leave to 12 full weeks of paid leave and introduced secondary caregiver leave of 4 weeks, xpanded the unsocial hours allowance for team working between 10pm-1am, and improved our team discount so team get 5% off on all grocery items, 10% off fresh and own brand products and two 10% discount days per month

“Additionally, we’re underway with a $45 million investment in making our stores safer including team safety cameras in all stores, trolley locks, fog cannons and double-entry gates. We’re also looking at bringing in duress alarms for those working in isolated areas.

“In the current challenging economic environment, our customers need us to provide affordable food. We have to balance increasing costs in our business so we can provide more value for our customers.

“Our stores will be open as usual and we will continue to engage with FIRST Union in good faith. We thank our customers for their understanding.”