Staff at Woolworths stores across New Zealand have taken strike action over pay and staffing issues.
Nearly 10,000 union members will strike over staffing and salary issues at selected Woolworths stores. First Union members voted to take action following dead-end negotiations. Some actions of the strike include non-compliance with media and social media, strike stickers, and in specific stores, handing out receipt-styled flyers to customers.
Two years ago, First Union members had ratified an agreement that made Woolworths workers some of the highest-paid supermarket workers in the country, with the living wage as a starting rate.
Some senior staff, such as duty managers and supervisors, have also participated in the strike. Many said that their teams have struggled week-to-week as the cost of living crisis continues. There have also been concerns about the amount of staff who live week to week.
Actions for the strike have been designed to be inclusive and solidarity-building ahead of any potentially more disruptive actions. Organisers said that this has become a case of one of the largest and most profitable businesses in the country deciding its staff no longer deserve a fair deal.
Research conducted by First Union Research indicated that Woolworths had extracted more than NZD $1 billion in dividends from the brand to shareholders in the last five years.
Despite an NZD $400 million rebrand from Countdown to Woolworths, its revenue grew by NZD $344 million (4.55 percent) in the past year to June 2023. The company made NZD $71 million in pre-tax earnings in the six months ending December 2023.
First Union data also revealed that Woolworths’ wages had fallen behind other competitors in the New Zealand market, such as selected Foodstuffs stores around the country and Costco.
Wages at Woolworths are currently NZD $24.93 per hour, while Costco has a starting rate of $27 per hour.
To read more local news, click here.
