Monday, 2 December 2024: The critical supply of essential food and grocery items for Victorian families at Woolworths supermarkets will continue to be impacted due to today's action by the United Workers Union (UWU).

The UWU refused to give any assurance of safe passage for workers looking to return to work at our Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre (MSRDC) following 11 days of industrial action at the site.

A majority of the team at the site had indicated they wished to return to work today to begin being paid, and to help increase supply of products such as nappies, toilet paper and drinks to Woolworths’ Victorian stores.

The UWU chose to block the site entry points with cars and protestors, which created an unsafe environment for team members who had shown up to work. The majority of our team members at this site are not members of the UWU.

Today we followed the advice of the Victorian Police to ensure the safety of our team.

MSRDC represents 42% of the stock flow impacted by current industrial action, and standing it back up would have meant improved availability of essential grocery items for our customers across Victoria.

Comment from Woolworths Group spokesperson:

“There was no need for today’s disruption by the United Workers Union (UWU).  

“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.

“As long as they continue to block access to our site, our customers will continue to face shortages on shelves in Victoria.

“We call on the union to do the right thing and let us re-open this site. Their members at the site have every right to take industrial action, but it’s not right to stop people working who want to work, and customers being able to access their essential food and grocery products in our supermarkets. 

“We sincerely apologise for the ongoing inconvenience of grocery shortages as a result of industrial action, and would like to thank our customers for their understanding and for treating our store teams with respect.”

ENDS