Woolies warehouse strike continues as shelves left bare

Picketers will continue their around-the-clock presence at Woolworths warehouses and say they will be there until a pay agreement is reached. United Workers Union members are blocking all entrances to a distribution centre in suburban Melbourne after Woolworths announced plans to reopen. Plans to bring in staff on Monday never eventuated, but picketers at the Dandenong South site turned away logistics trucks trying to enter. The strike action has seen supermarket shelves across Victoria stripped, with scenes akin to the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers can expect to see ongoing empty shelves after the union failed to agree to allow workers to return to work as a result of the ongoing strikes, Woolworths said. "The majority of our team at the Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre want to return to work and be paid again, our customers are facing increasingly empty shelves, another union has endorsed our deal, and we are still at the negotiating table with the UWU," a Woolworths spokesperson said. "As long as they continue to block access to our site, our customers will continue to face shortages on shelves in Victoria." One store, on Collingwood's Smith Street, had most of its toilet paper aisle emptied along with large portions of its bread and fridge sections. The company and union returned to the negotiating table on Monday. "We are hopeful of a breakthrough because our workers deserve to be safe at work," United Workers Union National Secretary Tim Kennedy said. Workers are protesting against "unrealistic performance expectations" which they claim lead to frequent injuries, demanding better wages, and an agreement that workers at different sites are paid the same amount. In late November, Woolworths insisted all stores were still receiving regular stock deliveries, but some were getting their goods less frequently than previously scheduled. No product limits were in place at the time apart from eggs, which have been rationed for months following bird flu outbreaks in NSW and Victoria. It's believed the strike is yet to affect Victorian farmers, whose produce normally hits supermarket closer to Christmas - but items such as nappies, toilet paper and drinks have been affected.