Woolies distribution workers strike for everyone

Like most workers, employees at Woolworths distribution warehouses watched their real wages decline while their bosses took home fat pay cheques over the last few years. But rather than shrug and accept falling living standards, they’re doing something about it.

At four sites today, hundreds set up picket lines and went on strike for a pay rise and equal pay for equal work across the distribution network. They are also fighting against a recently introduced performance management program, referred to by Woolworths as the “framework”, which is designed to monitor and evaluate the workers’ every move to increase the pace of work dramatically.

“This program utilises engineered standards to enforce a universal and highly standardised measurement of worker movement and speed”, the United Workers Union, to which many of the workers belong, noted in a report earlier this year. “Engineered standards assumes that every task of a warehouse worker can be pre-determined, categorised, and assigned a time limit. Should a worker fail to meet the designated speed of work at 100% capacity of every measured minute of their shift, they are placed on a twelve week ‘coaching’ program.”

That the company is being unreasonable is an understatement. Whatever way you look at it, Woolies has done better as its employees’ real wages have declined and as its customers have had to pay more for groceries.

Profitability, as measured by the ratio of earnings to sales, has risen by nearly one-third in recent years—from 4.7 percent in 2018 to 6.1 percent last financial year, according to the company’s annual reports. (Compare 2018’s figures [page 16] with those of 2024 [page 31].) The return on funds employed, another measure of profitability, has increased similarly—from 24.8 percent in 2019 to 32.2 percent more recently. And the company’s “cost of doing business”, the expenses incurred to keep its operations running, has declined.

But as the old capitalist adage goes, too much is never enough. Not for CEO Amanda Bardwell and other overpaid managers. Incentive payments for “key personnel” make up one-third or more of their total pay—and most of those incentives relate to increasing profitability and shareholder returns. Just 20 percent of short-term incentives relate to worker safety; none relate to lifting workers’ living standards or giving them a better return for the countless hours they have invested in keeping the company running.

Yet, despite being paid generously, key managers last year each could have “earned” several million dollars extra had the company increased its margins by even more than it has. Woolworths’ 2024 annual report shows that the managing director of the supermarket division, Natalie Davis, was paid $1.67 million of a possible $4.57 million. Outgoing CEO Brad Banducci was paid $3.97 million of a potential $10.9 million.

From management’s perspective, there is much room for improvement—among those they boss around, at least. Is it any wonder that distribution workers are fighting to tread water with their wages and face the imposition of this odious “framework”? Clearly, the worse it is for them, the better the managers’ pay will be.

But this should surprise no one: workers create the company’s value. The harder they are made to work and the less they are paid, the greater the profit for the owners. That’s true of all companies, which is one reason the whole union movement should support these striking Woollies workers. If they can secure a win, then maybe others can too. The whole working class desperately needs a pay rise after the last two years of inflation­. These workers are setting an example for everyone to follow, if only our side gets organised and confident.

Many socialists have joined the picket lines in solidarity with the Woolies workers and are helping to raise funds for and awareness of the strike. Several have sent in reports, which are published below.

Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre, Laverton North

By sunrise, Interchange Drive is a sea of hi-vis. Around 70 warehouse workers and dozens of supporters stand together over coffee and breakfast, an hour into their indefinite strike against Woolworths.

Strike placards line the warehouse gates. Beyond them looms the gargantuan Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre (MLDC). About 500 workers are employed here to pack supplies for Woolworths. Ninety percent of these workers, as many proudly tell Red Flag, are United Workers Union members.

There is a mood of assured defiance. Speaking to them, it is not hard to understand why. They know their conditions of work––where surveillance, intimidation and injuries are norms––must change. “It is inhuman to make us work like this”, Mitch* says.

He has worked at MLDC for sixteen years. When he started, he did ten-hour shifts. Chronic injuries sustained on the job, made worse by ever-increasing, impossible performance standards, have left him unable to work for more than six-hour stints. And even now, it is a struggle to go back day after day. “Management want to break you”, he says.

In a typical shift starting at 6am, he has exactly eight minutes to start packing supplies. If he is late, he risks a reprimand. Each hour, he is expected to pack one pallet, which usually holds one ton of goods. He is made to carry around a device to record how long each packing step takes.

His efficiency rate––measured by AI calculations––is constantly displayed. If he finishes his shift with an efficiency rate of less than 100 percent, the team leader will reprimand him. If it happens several times, he risks being fired—especially under the draconian new “framework” introduced by management.

“We’re not robots”, he says. Woolworths thinks otherwise.

Kit*, who has worked at MLDC for fifteen years and can now also work for no more than six-hour shifts, has many memories of workplace injuries. “The ambulance has come here too many times”, he says.

Making warehouse work safer and more sustainable is a key reason for his decision to strike. Pay rises matter, he says, but the conditions are key. “We’re doing this for future generations of workers, so they don’t have to face what we do”, he says.

*Names changed

Erskine Park Distribution Centre, NSW

At what is reported to be the most efficient distribution centre in the country, 50 to 60 workers are lined up against the outer fence in camp chairs. After a breakfast barbeque organised by the union, the vibes are good as the day progresses. One worker brought a big drum, which provides some rhythm between a few trucks honking their horns in solidarity as they pass.

“We’re fighting for our rights and for good conditions—such as no ‘framework’—and a fair pay rise”, Mohammed says. “It’s really intense [working here]. They call you up on the PA, where everyone can hear and they will call you by your pin number to come to the handout room. And yeah, it's like a Squid Game here [the South Korean survival horror/thriller Netflix series].

How does he feel to be out on strike?

“I’m really excited, it feels like a vacation [laughs]. Yeah, but hopefully, I have trust in the union, and we’re gonna get what we want. The whole shed is out and we still have afternoon shift coming. So it’s gonna be a good turnout.”

Another worker, Nithi, says that he has lost some of his hearing from having to wear a headset for the entire shift. Out of the earphones comes an automated voice, which tells pickers “where to go and how long [to] be at any given station”, he says.

“Also, at this shed, they only hire casuals. After you prove your performance, you can get permanency. Some people waited two years. It’s an open secret that if you claim workers’ comp you won’t get a permanent position.”

Some of the workers here are thrilled to be on strike for the first time and say they hate the company, hate the team leaders and hate the “framework”.

“We do everything; we feel unrewarded”, says one.

“They can’t do anything without us”, says another.

Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre , Dandenong South

The mood close to midnight is excited but reserved. Some are nervous—this is the first distribution centre to walk out. Some workers stand around and chat; others dance to 2000s hits.

One of the main things people talk about is the bosses’ surveillance and obsession with productivity targets. The workers say that managers never actually disclose to them the exact rate of packing needed to reach “100 percent efficiency”.

Automation is also topsy-turvy: people are often forced to carry heavy boxes while automated forklifts carry the light ones. This, and the constant harassment to meet KPIs, is exhausting, they say. And they are often unable to take the time to properly sanitise their stations for fear of falling behind, compounding the problem.

All are keen for a pay rise. They call the initial offer by the bosses of 3 percent plus a “sweetener” of $500 cash “insulting”.

Matthew, a student and part-time night shift worker, says he wants a pay rise in line with other warehouses in the area, some of which make up to $7 an hour more. “It’s Woolworths, you know, they can afford to be more giving”, he says with a wry smile.

“I’ve always wanted to go on strike”, he continues. “It makes me proud—96 percent of us voted to reject the company’s offer.” He sees political potential in the strike. “Labour is a gateway to more progressive ideas ... regardless of who you are, who you vote for, we all have to work, y’know?”