Contributed by Ben Wilson

More than 1,500 Woolworths supermarket and liquor distribution centre workers in Melbourne and Sydney are involved in an ongoing strike. They walked out weeks ago, demanding a pay increase and better working conditions. Pickets are operating all the sites, and Woolworth’s workers are being joined there by community supporters. Stocks on the supermarket shelves are starting to run out.

Photo by Anthony Bunn Workers gathered at the gates of Woolworths Barnawartha North distribution centre

Christmas is approaching and Woolworths is under pressure to take advantage of the season and will have to make a better offer in the end. The question is whether this will be enough to get a return to work? In the meantime, they need community support to continue and grow.

This comes after the company posted a profit of $1.71 profit last year alone. High profits contrast with the losing value of wages, made all the worse by management’s appetite for reducing the workforce and loading the workload of those who remain. A new “Coaching and Productivity framework” was introduced at the beginning of this year. It comes with constant monitoring of workers, together with narrow task completion times, and stricter disciplinary measures for those not meeting the designated targets. Morale is rock bottom, and anger is on the boil.

The workers consider the offer of between 3 and 4 percent a year is not enough. It doesn’t even keep up with the rate of price increases. Woolworths is part of the duopoly with Coles controlling 70 percent of the market and up to 90 percent in some areas. This provides the power to take advantage of its workforce and to charge customers higher prices than would otherwise be possible.

Led by the United Workers Union (UWU), the indefinite strike began at the Lineage Cold Storage facility at Laverton, in the western part of Melbourne. It spread quickly to the other sites.

Photo from the United Workers Union: Strikers at the Lineage Cold Storage facility at Laverton,

Meanwhile, Woolworths is under pressure over accusations of price gouging. They are not alone. But as the biggest retail company in the country, they receive special attention. The price gouging scandal a level of public outrage that has forced an inquiry of the supermarket sector by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Woolworths is currently in the firing line.

Another practice by the supermarkets is what is now being called shrinkflation. This is where the amount that a customer buys, is shrinking without a corresponding fall in the price.

Labor is introducing a bill into the federal parliament. This is the Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures bill. which contains a new code of conduct. It contains fines of up to $10 million for breaches. The Grocery Code of Conduct Review headed by former minister Craig Emerson, came up with 11 recommendations. In addition to the fine in the new bill, the Review recommended giving the ACCC more teeth and increasing scrutiny over increasing monopoly.

These might be minimal changes against the scale of the problem. But it’s a start. Much more is needed to make a real difference, given the scale of the profit margin, even a $10 million fine would be less than the gain from misconduct. There should be a law against private monopoly control over an industry. As long as monopoly continues, monopoly practices will prevail.

A major change requires suppliers and customers acting to create new ways to distribute product and ensure fairness for all, including the workers.

Overcharging of customers, and we can add the under payment of suppliers, shines a light on the business methods of the retail monopolies, and this is relevant to how Woolworths treats its workforce. The nature of the game is to maximise exploitation for the benefit of the shareholders. It needs more than a slap on the wrist to prevent this.