An indefinite strike by Woolworths warehouse workers is threatening to disrupt grocery supplies in the lead-up to Christmas.
Woolworths distribution centre workers will walk off the job on Thursday in a bid to force an improved pay offer from the grocery giant.
The United Workers Union says up to 1500 workers at three distribution centres in Victoria and another in NSW will strike indefinitely, calling for consistency across the nation with an agreement covering all the supermarket’s workers in Australia.
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“No one wants to see bare supermarket shelves in the lead-up to Christmas,” union national secretary Tim Kennedy said.
Woolworths’ distributor Primary Connect said the strike should not have an immediate impact on stores, and contingency plans were in place.
“Maintaining supply for customers is our priority in the lead-up to Christmas,” a spokesperson said.
Kennedy said warehouse workers felt pressured to cut corners to do their jobs quicker, potentially risking their safety.
“Woolworths must prioritise the safety and wellbeing of workers above all else,” he said.
Primary Connect said expectations were based on “the time it should take a person with reasonable skill, applying reasonable effort, working at a safe and conscientious pace, that can be maintained for the duration of a shift, to complete a task”.
Earlier stop-work action allowed for meetings where workers voted to strike indefinitely in a bid to improve their workplace agreements.
Equal pay and conditions across distribution centres nationwide and raising wages to at least $38 an hour, with percentage increases in the following years, were among the union’s demands.
“Woolworths workers are striking for a cost-of-living wage increase and to be paid the same rate of pay for doing the same work under a national agreement,” Kennedy said.