It seems Woolworths and Coles employees have reached their wits’ end with their grocery giant employers as hundreds of workers are expected to walk off the job this weekend.
Woolworths and Coles staff, who are represented by the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), will stop working for two hours from 10am this Saturday. The stoppage is set to impact Woolworths and Coles stores in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia.
On the union’s website, the RAFFWU explained that it was protesting for higher pay, secure jobs and safer work environments.
“Coles Supermarkets and Woolworths Supermarkets workers were the essential worker heroes of our pandemic. They turned up to work throughout the entire pandemic, put on the frontline and the employers were slow to put in place safety measures,” it wrote.
“They got sick, their families got sick. Their loved ones were put in harm’s way while Coles and Woolworths made mega profits.
“The dirty little Coles and Woolies secret is that those workers are paid poverty wages – among the lowest in Australia. They have unsafe workplaces where abuse, assaults, threats and harassment are a daily reality and their jobs are insecure.”
A spokesperson for Woolies told 9News that 300 of its 130,000 employees were expected to strike and that the supermarket giant has been in “regular contact” with the union.
“We have been in regular contact with RAFFWU bargaining representatives and an initial bargaining meeting has already occurred,” a spokesperson from Woolworths told the publication.
“We have a long history of bargaining in good faith with our team and will continue to do so. However, we acknowledge and respect the right of team members to take protected industrial action.”
The union also said it will implement bans on Friday, including a ban on cleaning up vomit or bodily fluids, cleaning the manager’s toilet, or talking to customers about the strike.
As for Coles, the RAFFWU claimed that the supermarket giant had warned staff members that they wouldn’t be paid during the stoppage and that they could lose their jobs.
“Refusing to pay workers while they ban limited work is a choice by Coles in its ruthless exploitation of workers. Woolworths has not made the same choice and is not currently refusing to pay workers implementing bans,” the RAFFWU wrote.
A spokesperson for Coles told 9News: “Coles is committed to delivering an outcome that balances the needs of our team members, the sustainability of our business and ensures we can continue to deliver great value and experiences for our customers.”
We may not support these grocery giants, but we truly back the employees and their protest for higher wages, secure jobs and safer work environments.
Surely, with the profit that Coles made — a whopping $1 billion in profits during a cost of living crisis — you’d think it would be able to provide adequate pay and environment for its valued workers.
Down, down, shady corporations need to go down.
Image source: Getty Images / Darrian Traynor and Pacific Press
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