Wild scenes as Coles and Woolworths workers walk off the job in first national strike over pay
Hundreds of staff at Coles and Woolworths have walked off the job demanding better pay, with a union leader saying some could not even afford the groceries their employers were selling.
Workers represented by the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union stopped work from 10am on Saturday for two hours at stores in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT.
The strike, the first of its kind at a nationwide level in Australia, affected both Coles and Woolworths stores, amid mounting criticism from unions of the two grocery chains.
Hundreds of staff (pictured) from Coles and Woolworths have walked off the job in a nationwide strike
About 1,000 RAFFWU members attended, with federal secretary Josh Cullinan saying staff were fighting for higher pay, safer workplaces and secure jobs.
“Workers are paid a few cents more than the minimum wage,” he told Nine News.
“They just want a living wage to meet the rising cost of living.
“They can’t even afford the groceries they’re selling.”
Mr Cullinan also said he wanted casual workers to find permanent jobs and action to be taken on violence in shops.
“They (staff) just want to be able to have more hours in their contract to lean on,” Mr Cullinan said.
“Mega companies that make mega profits should be able to provide this.
“We also want to see any time a worker is assaulted or abused treated as a crime.
“The level of abuse, threats, intimidation and attacks is unprecedented and outrageous.
“Employers are not lifting a finger to stop it.”
Industrial action was also planned to take place in shops on Friday, prompting allegations of retaliation.
RAFFWU claimed Coles said it would fire any workers who enforced the stoppage ban.
“Coles pays poverty wages and then threatens to take even those meager wages away from any worker who dares to stand up, RAFFWU said.
“For the avoidance of doubt, workers are not being paid for the strike and workers at Coles who are involved in stoppages on Friday 6 October will not be paid by Coles.
“Refusal to pay workers while they stop short work is a choice by Coles in ruthless exploitation of workers.
“Woolworths has not made the same choice and is not currently refusing to pay workers who comply with the bans.”
Workers (pictured) are demanding a pay rise with a union official claiming staff cannot afford to pay for groceries on their current wages
In a statement, a Coles spokesman said they did not expect any disruption to customers from the strike.
“We remain committed to negotiating a fair and balanced deal for everyone,” the spokesman said.
“Coles continues to offer terms on price under our current enterprise agreement.
“We passed the Fair Work Commission’s annual pay rise to supermarket team members in July.
“We oppose the misinformation pushed by the bargaining representative who represents less than 0.4 percent of team members and remain committed to negotiating a fair and balanced deal for all.”
Woolworths, meanwhile, said only 300 of its 132,000 staff were expected to take part in the walkout.
Several supermarket chains have been hit by strikes (pictured) after staff walked off the job at 10am on Saturday at various locations across the country.
Coles and Woolworths said they passed on pay rises recommended by the Fair Work Commission to workers in July (pictured)
A spokesman for the supermarket said initial talks with RAFFWU had taken place.
“We have a long history of bargaining in good faith with our team and will continue to do so,” they said.
“However, we recognize and respect the right of team members to take protected industrial action.
“Only individuals who have nominated RAFFWU as their bargaining representative may participate.
“As a result, we would not expect our customers or stores to be materially affected. ‘
The spokesman said Woolworths had also ‘passed through’ a 5.75 per cent pay rise.
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