First strike for Queensland Big W workers
Workers at the Big W distribution centre in Warwick, Queensland, have taken industrial action for the first time since the warehouse opened nearly 20 years ago.
Their stoppage, for one hour, may seem small in an industry in which the National Union of Workers dominates many other distribution centres. But for these workers – who have been treated like the backward cousins of the Woolworths “family” for too long – this is an important step in the right direction. Further action will be taken if necessary.
For years, the Warwick Big W DC operated 24 hours a day, five days a week. It serviced more than 90 stores throughout Queensland and New South Wales. In 2012, a new facility was opened in western Sydney and took over distribution to half that number.
Workers at Warwick felt the impact immediately. The afternoon and “graveyard” shifts were abolished, and everyone was placed on a limited morning shift. At the time, union membership was low and the “union” on site was the conservative SDA. For the best part of 18 years it did nothing, while Big W enjoyed enormous growth.
The situation began to change around a year ago, when the Warwick Big W workers had a visit from the NUW. Despite a hostile environment created by the company and the SDA, a union organiser and a team of delegates have worked hard to get close to half of the shed into the NUW.
These workers are now bargaining for a new enterprise agreement. This time they have a strong voice and are determined not to back down. The company has offered a 6.9 percent wage rise over three years. Members of the NUW want a two-year deal and a 3 percent increase each year, along with 20 weeks’ redundancy pay for those with 10 years’ service, a labour hire clause, casual loading at 22 percent and the right to take disputes to arbitration at the Fair Work Commission.
Workers at Warwick are multi-skilled, and most hold a Certificate 3 in Transport and Logistics. They are paid $24.55 an hour for same work that others in the Woolworths distribution chain get paid more than $30 for. They’re not demanding parity at this point, just to close the gap on their counterparts.
Woolworths’ profit has been flat this financial year at a tick over $2 billion for the whole group and a shade over $100 million for Big W. Why should workers bear the brunt of management’s bad decisions? They do their job the same whether profits are up or down.
Woolworths seems to be on the attack at the moment. It has recently announced the closure of the Hume distribution centre in Victoria (the highest paid and strongest NUW site in its network), and workers at the Melbourne liquor DC were forced to strike over the company’s push for more labour hire workers.
Right now, Woolworths workers in Brisbane and Barnawartha are also bargaining for their agreements. This time, with a much more militant union on site and a determined group of delegates countering the company stooges, you can be assured that the Warwick Big W DC workers are no longer the backward cousins.
