Woolworths has reached an agreement with the United Workers Union after staff walked off the job more than two weeks ago.
A spokesperson for the supermarket giant said the distribution centre in Dandenong South could re-open tonight, after the company’s new enterprise agreement offers were endorsed by the United Workers Union (UWU) this afternoon.
“The Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre, Wodonga Regional Distribution Centre and Erskine Park Distribution Centre are also expected to re-open soon,” the supermarket said in a statement.
“All four sites will be stood back up to full capacity as soon as possible.
“Votes on the new deals will be put to teams at these sites as soon as possible.”
Woolworths said the industrial action had impacted the supply of products in its stores across Victoria, ACT and parts of NSW.
“With just over two weeks to go until Christmas, we’re now focused on getting products out of the distribution centres and restocking the empty shelves customers have experienced in the past fortnight,” CEO Amanda Bardwell said.
“Turning back ‘on’ such a large part of our supply chain will mean it will take some time for our stores to look their best and we’ll be ramping up as much as we can to get products to the stores where they’re needed most.”
The UWU said the strike was “primarily about addressing workers’ concerns with Woolworths Framework”, which is a performance management program that monitors pick rates at warehouses.
A spokesperson said a new clause to be added to workplace agreements that “ensures workers will not be disciplined for the speed that they can work at”.
The spokesperson said workers had also secured “above-inflation increases” across all sites “to help families in a cost-of-living crisis”.
“Today, warehouse workers at Woolworths have saved Christmas.
“But more importantly, they have challenged one of the most significant threats to worker safety and well-being as we enter a new AI-surveillance era of work, and they have won.
“This has been a very hard struggle to get to this point, with workers forgoing pay on strike for 17 days.”
