Woolies workers face the chop
LONG-TIME Woolworths workers in Leongatha and Wonthaggi are facing the prospect of losing their current jobs.
Days after the Leongatha store celebrated the achievements of four senior staff who’d chalked up 150 years at the outlet, consultation began on a “new store operating model” to be rolled out across the country in September.
A Woolworths spokesperson denied the changes would mean the sacking of long term employees in managerial roles. Rather they will “redeployed”. The spokesperson, however, could not say to where.
“Our immediate focus is identifying as many redeployment opportunities as possible for impacted team members across our business,” she said.
“Importantly, the changes will not lead to a net reduction in the overall number of team members we employ in our stores.
“We know these are difficult decisions. We haven’t taken them lightly and we’re committed to doing the right thing for our team and customers.”
The spokesperson said the company would “look for redeployment opportunities within the new store structure and across the broader group”.
“We understand the new opportunities created in the revised structure may not appeal to everyone and will ensure those team members are fully supported in their transition,” she said.
There has been rumoured wage cuts too, as managers are moved to less generous contracts.
“As the retail market continues to evolve, we need to ensure we’re set up to deliver the service levels our customers expect, so we can continue supporting more than 115,000 Australian jobs in our supermarkets,” the spokesperson said.
“Under our new operating model, we’re creating more customer facing leadership roles and aligning team member hours with peak trading periods.
“This will help us deliver better service to our customers across more hours of the day and meet changing shopping needs.”
Woolworths promised that full-time workers whose roles disappear would not be offered part-time or casual jobs instead.
The promise came after the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, and the Australian Workers Union took Woolworths to the Fair Work Commission.
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