Woolworths’ enforcement of a punitive ‘Framework’ raises concerns over Woolworths’ commitment to worker safety in distribution centres, United Workers Union said today.
Ahead of the Woolworths 2024 Annual General Meeting, the union calls upon the Woolworths Board to demonstrate to shareholders how the company is committing to a safer working environment for distribution centre team members.
“The concern we have is that Woolworths is showing a pattern of behaviour that puts profits ahead of people, squeezing shoppers and workers alike,” United Workers Union National Secretary Tim Kennedy said today.
“The company’s measurement system, the ‘Framework’, seems to be pulled from the same handbook as price-gouging and boils down to plain old corporate greed.”
Following a distribution centre workplace fatality in 2023, The Woolworths Group pledged a commitment to improved safety standards.
The introduction of a punitive and unsafe performance management ‘Framework’ calls into question Woolworths’ sincerity in making this pledge.
The Woolworths Framework enforces 100% compliance with a performance metric (pick rate) which is:
- Unsafe: The Framework prioritises speed over safety which is already leading to more injuries and unsafe work practices due to fear of termination.
- Punitive: Disciplinary action is triggered at anything less than 100% compliance.
- Opaque and arbitrary: Workers are not told what “100%” means in practice, the performance target is not transparent, the pick rate seems to change over time and is inconsistent across departments.
- Unsustainable: For the majority of experienced workers it is not possible achieve 100% compliance for the duration of a single shift, let alone weeks or years.
Additional quotes attributable to Tim Kennedy, National Secretary, United Workers Union:
“The ‘Framework’ is dangerous, unrealistic and discriminatory.
“Workers say that in order to meet the demands of ‘the Framework’, people must sacrifice their own safety and mental well-being.
“Workers feel they must cut corners and perform tasks at dangerous speeds to avoid being disciplined or losing their jobs.
“Workers want to be able to go home safe and sound every day, and know they’ve got a job tomorrow.
“It is impossible for anyone to meet the same universal standard all day. Nobody can work at 100% every second of every day.
“It’s time for Woolworths to start treating its workers as human beings, not a robot, and give up on tying our members’ rate of work to an opaque universal standard.”
ENDS