| WHAT: | Press conference to mark one week of Woolworths strike |
| WHO: | ACTU President Michele O’Neil, UWU Logistics Director Dario Mujkic + striking workers |
| WHERE: | Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre, 1 Interchange Dr, Laverton North, Victoria |
| WHEN: | 8.30am Thursday 28 November |
More than 1500 warehouse workers across Victoria and NSW have been on strike for one week to improve wages in a cost-of-living crisis and safety in the face of Woolworths performance ‘Framework’. Lineage, a cold storage warehouse supplying Woolworths stores, also began indefinite strike action five days ago for improved wages and conditions.
After a full week on strike, shelves across Woolworths stores are starting to run bare, with gaping holes in household and frozen goods.
Workers are calling to permanently scrap Woolworths’ “Framework”, which the union says is a high-risk management approach pushing workers to work faster, undermining safety in a very dangerous industry.
Workers want wages increases that address decades of wage stagnation and a growing cost-of-living crisis.
Comments attributable to ACTU President Michele O’Neil:
“The union movement supports these workers standing up to Woolworths through their union. These warehouse workers are not just fighting for safer workplaces and a fairer share of corporate profits, they are fighting for every Australian who has been price-gouged by Woolworths.
“Like so many working people, these workers just want to have Christmas with their loved ones. It’s unfair for powerful big businesses like Woolworths to raise our prices and then refuse to offer a fair pay deal for the workers who make those profits.
“Working people have a message for politicians like Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who attacked these hardworking Woolworths workers organising for higher wages: instead of blaming Australians struggling with the cost of living, how about you stand up to your big business mates that are causing stress for workers going into Christmas.”
Comments attributable to UWU National Secretary Tim Kennedy:
“We are seeing bare shelves across the eastern seaboard now. We warned that this would happen if five warehouses took strike action. Woolworths knows how to fix this, and now is the time as families start their Christmas preparations.
“Workers do not want to feel pressured to cut corners and work unsafely for fear of losing their job, Woolworths must prioritise the safety and well-being of workers above all else.
“Woolworths are squeezing shoppers at the register and workers on pay and conditions, while making ever increasing profits. This is contributing to growing wealth inequality in Australia.
“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.”
ENDS
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