Over 1,000 Coles, Woolies Workers Set to Strike

Woolworths says union represents small portion of their workforce.

Coles and Woolworths signs are seen outside a shopping centre in Melbourne, Australia, on May 25, 2015. Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

About 1,000 workers from supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are planning to strike on Saturday morning in Australia.

The strike will involve members of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The union is concerned about workers earning just above the minimum wage arguing this is inappropriate while supermarkets pull in “billion-dollar profits.”

The RAFFWU claimed this was the first national strike at the supermarkets in Australian history.

“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,” the RAFFWU said.

“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.

“They got sick, their families got sick. Their loved ones were put in harm’s way while Coles and Woolworths made mega-profits.”

RAFFWU is not the only union representing workers at the supermarket chains. Coles and Woolworths staff are also represented by the Shop, Distributive, and Allied (SDA) Union, which has 200,000 members around the country.

Residents shop at a supermarket in Canberra, Australia, on Aug. 12, 2021. Rohan Thomson/AFP via Getty Images

The State of the Supermarkets

Woolworths reported a net profit after tax of $1.7 billion in the 2023 financial year (pdf), 13.7 percent higher than the previous financial year. The company declared a final dividend of 58 cents per share following the strong result.

“The improved profit result for the year reflected robust sales growth, the more stable operating environment, the absence of COVID costs incurred in the prior year, and the benefits from ongoing investment in the business,” Woolworths reported to shareholders.

Coles delivered a $1.04 billion net profit after tax in the 2023 financial year and provided a 30 cents per share final dividend to shareholders.

“It is pleasing to record continuing sales growth and broadly stable after-tax profits from continuing operations in another year marked by challenging operating conditions,” Coles reported in its full-year results (pdf).

“The payment of a steady final dividend of 30 cents per share is in line with our 80 to 90 percent full-year dividend payout policy.”

Coles said during the year they opened the first automated distribution centre at Redbank in Queensland.

Woolworths Employs 130,000 people

A Woolworths spokesperson told The Epoch Times that only workers with a RAFFWU bargaining representative will take part in the industrial action.

“As a result, we would not expect customers or our stores to be materially impacted. Customers will still be able to shop in our stores,” Woolworths said.

The supermarket highlighted it employs more than 130,000 people and operates 1,000 stores.

Only three hundred team members from Woolworths are covered by the union taking protected industrial action.

“We have been in regular contact with RAFFWU bargaining representatives and an initial bargaining meeting has already occurred,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.

“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.”

Coles Says Customers Will Not Be Impacted

A Coles spokesperson told The Epoch Times they do not expect any disruption to customers or store operations due to the industrial action.

In total, 450 team members out of 120,000 Coles staff are members of the RAFFWU.

Eleven stores have 5 to 15 members of the union, while the remaining stores with RAFFWU members have less than five.

The supermarket giant has held multiple bargaining meetings with the union since July and is continuing to work with them to reach an agreement.

“We remain committed to negotiating a fair and balanced agreement for all. Coles continues to provide above-award conditions under our current enterprise agreement and passed on the Fair Work Commission’s 5.75 percent annual wage increase to our supermarket team members in July 2023,” a spokesperson said.

Union Says Prepare for ‘Disruption’

RAFFWU federal Secretary Josh Cullinan told 7 News the strike will “cause disruption at some stores.”

“We know there will be almost 1,000 workers across Coles and Woolworths who be walking off the job. In some stores that will be one or two courageous workers, but in other stores it will be half the store that walks out,” he said.

“We are claiming a minimum base rate of $29 an hour and bargaining. So far Coles and Woolworths won’t even respond to that claim.”

Action sites will include Coles Spencer Street in Melbourne, Haymarket near Central Station in New South Wales, Coles Brisbane Central Business District, Coles Byford in Perth, Coles Tuggeranong in Canberra, and Woolworths in Aberfoyle Park, Adelaide.

The workers represented by the RAFFWU plan to stop work for two hours. Industrial action is already underway from Oct. 6 at Coles.

The union said Coles is not planning to pay workers who do not turn up to work.

The union is also planning to take further action at Christmas if they are unable to reach a deal with the supermarkets.