Hundreds of transport workers are expected to protest nationally at ALDI stores as the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) highlights “dangerous practices” in the supermarket’s transport supply chain.

TWU claims that investigations at Gold Tiger, a company within ALDI’s transport supply chain which has since closed its doors, have uncovered:

• Vehicles that weren’t “properly” maintained, in some cases leading to workers being permanently injured.
• Truck rollovers.
• “Potential” underpayments, including workers employed full-time but only paid if there was enough work.

The TWU also says it’s pursuing an underpayment case at the company, which it notes has previously been taken to court by the Fair Work Ombudsman over failure to pay unfair dismissal compensation.

Other incidents uncovered at ALDI stores and through its supply chain, according to the TWU:

• Workers crushed and trapped in a scissor lift in ALDI’s Balgowlah store on three separate occasions.
• At other companies in its supply chain, TWU says it has uncovered trucks being held together by tape, workers hit by forklifts, and vehicle collisions in ALDI DCs.

“While Woolworths and Coles have both signed charters with the TWU on supply chain safety, ALDI has failed to follow suit,” says the TWU.

“The national ALDI protests come as hundreds of enterprise agreements begin to expire across road transport in the TWU’s largest co-ordinated industrial campaign, triggering a window for potential protected action.”

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine says throughout ALDI’s transport supply chain there are shocking tales of injuries, dangerous vehicle standards, underpayments and pressure to rush.

“ALDI has still failed to commit to a charter to address these issues riddled throughout the transport companies it uses to move its goods,” he says.

“There are now almost 40,000 transport workers who have the potential right to take industrial action to lift standards in Australia’s deadliest industry.

“With 23 truck drivers killed on our roads this year, workers have made it clear: it’s time for clients like ALDI to come to the table on decent jobs that don’t pile deadly pressure on an industry already at breaking point.

“Inaction from transport workers means more deaths on our roads and decent transport companies pushed out from the constant race to the bottom.”

ALDI responds

In a statement provided to Retail World, an ALDI spokesperson says the retailer is committed to “safety, fair pay and excellent working conditions” throughout its entire supply chain.

“We take our responsibilities across our supply chain very seriously, meeting and exceeding our obligations under all relevant regulations,” says the spokesperson. “We categorically reject any allegations by the TWU that suggest otherwise.”