Empty shelves at supermarkets and bottle shops in several states could soon be restocked before Christmas, but the workplace turmoil that sparked the shortage is far from over.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that picketing led by members of the United Workers Union at four key Woolworths distribution centers is illegal and the union has taken to Facebook to tell members to allow temporary workers and delivery trucks through. supplies.
The strike, in its third week, involves around 1,800 distribution workers in three states.
“The strike continues regardless of what the Fair Work Commission says,” United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy said.
‘Woolworths can open its stores. But warehouses only work if the workers go back to work,” he said.
Workers at the warehouse and the retail giant have been locked in tense negotiations for months over pay and conditions, including over an algorithmic management platform that the union said put employees at risk.
In issuing a bargaining order, the commission’s deputy vice-chairman, Gerard Boyce, said the union had failed to comply with the good faith requirements set out by Australian labor laws.
“The conduct is not part of any protected industrial action,” he told the hearing, “it is not the simple elimination of the employer’s job.”
Workers at distribution centers supplying Woolworths and Dan Murphy’s were ordered to clear pickets (pictured) and allow temporary workers and supply trucks to pass through.
Products missing from some Woolworths supermarkets due to ongoing industrial action
The actions had unfairly blocked warehouse workers and truck drivers from wanting to enter workplaces, the commissioner found.
There had also been picketing at distribution centers that were not involved in negotiation talks, amounting to unprotected industrial action.
The major supermarket closed the centers due to a lack of staff to operate them safely, but claimed workers wanting to return had been blocked by union members.
Sixteen days of strike action have emptied thousands of supermarket and bottle shop shelves across Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT, costing the supermarket chain at least $50 million.
Woolworths lawyer Marc Felman said distribution centers were the “heart” of its supply chain and argued the picketing amounted to unfair conduct in its dealings.
“They should be free to continue to reach an agreement in an orthodox way without having to point a gun at the head of an obstructive picket line,” Felman told the hearing in Melbourne.
Stocks of bottled and cask wine were running low on Thursday at Dan Murphy’s in Melbourne’s north, jeopardizing the prospect of a very merry Christmas.
Union members on strike at Woolworths Erskine Park DC were visited this week by the community, family, fellow union members and politicians.
Outside the hearing, United Workers Union secretary Tim Kennedy said members were demanding better pay and changes to an algorithmic performance management framework that put workers at risk.
“Woolworths can step up and show some dignity and respect to its workers… so they can plan for Christmas,” he said.
The union said Woolworths had insisted on holding separate talks at each of the four warehouses in question, stifling the bargaining process.
But lawyers for the retail giant claimed picketing had occurred at warehouses not involved in the talks, amounting to unprotected action.
Kennedy said negotiations were ongoing and the Fair Work hearing was a distraction.
“I think the problem is that Woolworths is used to just saying ‘it’s our way or the highway’, whether to farmers, suppliers or customers,” he said.
Woolworths said the “obstructive” picketing undermined the negotiation process and was not protected by Australian law.
“You can protest peacefully and take protected strike action,” Mr. Felman said at the commission hearing.
“What you can’t do is obstruct this.”
The commissioner and legal teams from both sides were still finalizing the final details of the orders as of Friday evening.
It could take days for shelves to be restocked to normal levels.