Workers at Coles and Woolworths Will Strike for Living Wages and Job Security

Represented by the Retail and Fast Food Workers union (RAFFWU), supermarket workers will strike on Saturday October 7 at 10am, demanding living wages, safer workplaces and job security.

The union estimated 1000 workers would walk off the job for two hours, across Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT and SA.

RAFFWU federal secretary Josh Cullinan told Nine workers wanted to see living wages to deal with the cost of living, and abuse of staff treated like a crime.

“The level of abuse, threats intimidation and assaults is unprecedented and outrageous and the employers are not lifting a finger to stop it,” he said."Workers are paid a few cents more than the minimum wage…they can't even afford the groceries they're selling.”

On chuffed.org, the RAFFWU wrote that bosses of the multi-billion dollar supermarket duopoly had refused to agree to a single claim. The RAFFWU said workers at the supermarket chains are paid "poverty wages" – base rates of between $12 and $26 per hour – with younger, under 20-year-old employees effected by junior rates, which can come as low as 45% of the adult wage.

Bargainers want the junior rates abolished, and for the base rate to be moved closer to $30 – what people would generally be paid in a warehouse.Job security is another key demand, with workers contesting the lack of permanent roster work.

While part-time workers’ days and hours are ostensibly guaranteed, Coles uses terminology like “business requirements” to justify sudden “roster resets”, to change people’s hours. Under the current agreement, workers are powerless to prevent this, and have no protections for loss of pay in the case of a roster reset.

In the case of health and safety incidents, supermarket worker and RAFFWU delegate Nelio Da Silva told Jacobin workers were often unable to properly report under time pressures enforced by management. Stores do not have security guards during the day, due to high costs, so workers are left to keep the store running in the case of an incident.

“We want the ability to get the team member away from the situation, to have the time to instantly report the incident, and to shut the store if need be. Coles thinks this idea is crazy”, Da Silva said.

In August, both Coles and Woolworths recorded profits in excess of $1 billion, with nearly a 5 per cent increase from the previous financial year. While both companies make money outside of the grocery industry, it was here where Woolworths saw a 20 per cent rise in earnings and Coles a 2.9 per cent rise.

A Coles spokesperson said the company was working collaboratively with team members and bargaining representatives on a proposal for a new Supermarket Enterprise Agreement.

“Coles passed on the Fair Work Commission’s 5.75% annual wage increase to our supermarket team members in July 2023 and continues to provide above-award conditions under our current enterprise agreement,” they said in a statement provided to VICE.

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