All four Woolworths distribution centres impacted by an extended period of industrial action have reopened after the company’s individual enterprise agreement offers were endorsed by the United Workers Union on Saturday, 7 December.
The new agreements provide team members with wage increases over three years of approximately 11% in total, with the individual increases varying by site and year.
Team member concerns about performance metrics have also been addressed. Woolworths Group says the new agreements “continue to ensure team safety and the efficient operation of our DCs, enabling the delivery of products to stores to meet customer needs”.
$140m impact
The endorsed deals come after 17 days of indefinite strike action impacting store service levels in Woolworths supermarkets across Victoria, ACT and parts of NSW.
Woolworth’s says its food sales have been negatively impacted by approximately $140 million (up to 8 December). The estimated direct one-off negative impact of this dispute to date on Australian Food EBIT is approximately $50 – 60 million, reflecting the impact of lost sales, additional transport and supply chain contingency costs and elevated levels of stock loss.
While all sites are now operational, the retailer anticipates there will be further sales and earnings impacts, due to the time and effort required to rebuild stock levels at both the DCs and stores ahead of the busy Christmas trading period.
Focused on restoring stock levels
Woolworths Group CEO Amanda Bardwell says the retailer is pleased to have endorsed offers and a competitive wage for its DC teams and is now focused on restoring stock levels.
“With just over two weeks until Christmas, we are now moving products out of the DCs and onto supermarket shelves as quickly as possible for our customers,” she said.
“We are fully focused on restoring stock levels and getting products to stores where they are needed most, with stock levels to gradually improve as we seek to provide customers with a great shopping experience this Christmas.
“We would once again like to apologise to our customers for this disruption and thank them for their support. We know it has been frustrating shopping in our stores and online in recent weeks in Victoria, the ACT and parts of NSW. I would like to sincerely thank them for their understanding and patience,” said Ms Bardwell.