Woolworths Katikati staff strike for better pay and conditions, want understaffing and safety issues addressed

Woolworths Katikati First Union members protest on Tuesday last week.

Nearly 30 Woolworths Katikati staff wanting better pay and conditions took industrial action last week.

Hundreds of Woolworths First Union staff in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty walked off the job at midday for two hours demanding better pay and conditions as part of the nationwide strike.

Woolworths Katikati union members followed suit and protested with placards such as “we won’t be slaves no more, we’ll take our labour out the door”, “fair pay” and “understaffed, underpaid, we need a better way”.

A local worker said they wanted what was wanted nationally — to be paid the living wage of $27.80 an hour, to address concerns over understaffing levels, security, and pay incentives to help fill night and weekend shifts.

The industrial action took place after Woolworths ruled out paying the living wage (which is above the minimum, at $23.15 per hour in April). Staff from more than 190 supermarkets nationwide held protest rallies.

“We want the living wage,” said the worker. “We want some returns for working nights and weekends. We also want our staffing levels increased.

Staffing levels in Katikati at the moment are unsafe, they said.

Staffing was reduced during the Covid-19 pandemic and former levels never returned, they said.

“I am not prepared to be a slave, I will do my job but I will not try and do three peoples’ work at the risk of myself.”

Being understaffed means, unfortunately, staff will still try and get the work done and it’s exhausting, they said.

One of their safety concerns is having a small amount of staff on, especially at night.

“Sometimes in the evening — before night fill staff come in — there will [be] only four people [on check-out] and a duty manager, some are out doing trolleys which only leaves a few people at the checkout.

“During Covid-19 we were called heroes, but we are not worth the living wage. I believe that it is wrong.

“Valued workers should be paid the living wage.”

A Woolworths New Zealand spokesperson said making sure their team is paid fairly is a priority and they have brought a strong offer to the table in discussions.

“This includes a wage rate increase for our store team between 6.8 - 10.1% over two years, further to the 19% increase we agreed in 2022.”

The spokesperson said the company has improved a range of benefits since 2022 including expanding the unsocial hours allowance for working between 10pm-1am.

The firm is also under way with a $45 million investment in making stores safer including cameras in all stores, trolley locks, fog cannons, and double-entry gates. Duress alarms are being considered for isolated areas.

First Union Bay of Plenty organiser Hayley Derry, who represents Woolworths members from Katikati to Whakatāne, said the striking workers did not take walking off their jobs lightly. She said some staff did not earn enough to buy groceries at the stores where they worked.

“But this is crunch time for our members, who are feeling undervalued, unpaid and very stressed, especially about staffing levels. And a lot of staff are also feeling very vulnerable in terms of their safety and security.”

Derry said safer staffing levels and better security measures would help reduce incidents of abuse and theft in the stores.