Coles have continued to crackdown on shoplifting in order to raise profits, this time by enforcing bag checks on its own staff.
The new policy has been introduced by Coles, which requires staff members to have their personal bags inspected upon finishing a shift. The policy has existed since last year, however has recently become utilised more regularly according to a union representative.
Workers who do not allow their bags to be inspected can be fired for the offence, according to Coles’ policy. It also has replaced the prior practise where workers’ bags were only allowed to be checked if that worker had been suspected of stealing anything.
In an interview with The Guardian a representative from Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, Josh Cullinan, said the new bag checks were because Coles is aware of the high prices of groceries, and this was its solution to preventing more theft.
“The reason they are bag checking is because they know that their own workers are forced to think about stealing because they can’t afford food,” stated Cullinan.
Many have pointed out the irony of Coles’ suspicion its workers might be stealing, as they are already some of the lowest paid in the country, so surely paying them more would be a better solution than keeping them poor and increasing suspected chances of theft. But no.
Additionally, in June it was reported that Coles had $45 million worth of unpaid staff wages, so is this a case of the pot calling the kettle a thief?
A spokesperson from Coles has insisted that this policy is standard across the entire retail industry. This sentiment has been shared by people online who state that Coles has always done bag checks of their workers.
“I’m sure this has always been a thing? I worked for Coles as a teenager (now 33) and we would show our bags on the way out after a shift,” commented a user on Reddit.
This year the supermarket giant have found themselves heavily under fire for various reasons including: making an unprecedented $1.1 billion dollars profit, raising prices on groceries during a cost of living crisis and squeezing consumers out of even more money they don’t have, and then cracking down on shoplifting — which is happening due to the high prices BTW — by equipping staff with body cameras.
Just this week Coles received a jointed Choice Shonky Award with competition Woolworths for their “cashing in during a cost-of-living crisis”.
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