Unionists at the Woolworths warehouse in Barnawartha, northern Victoria, have won an 8.3% wage rise and other benefits after an eight-day strike that ended on November 1.
The 350 members of the National Union of Workers (NUW) went on strike on October 25 due to pay rates much lower than Melbourne employees doing the same job. A NUW statement said management had offered a raise of 74¢ per hour for Barnawartha workers, compared to $1.04 for Melbourne employees.
Members at the Barnawartha warehouse already earned $203 a week less than workers in Melbourne.
The offer, which union members accepted on November 1, meant “the gap between regional workers will not continue to grow and begins to be reduced,” according to the NUW website, with the gap narrowing by $4 a week over the life of the agreement.
"This is a great achievement, especially considering that only 24 hours ago, the wage offer would have seen Barnawartha workers go from $203 behind, to $225 per week behind," said NUW Industrial Officer Dario Mujkic.
NUW media officer Emma Kerin told Green Left Weekly that under the company’s wage offer, new employees would also have had reduced wages compared to existing staff.
In the new agreement, however, their rates of pay will rise, and new employees will not have to wait 12 months to move to level-two pay rates.
As well as the pay rise, the agreement includes higher Saturday shift loadings (from 125% to 140%), longer breaks for casual workers, and an extra 40¢ an hour allowance for forklift drivers.