The Revolutionary Communist Organisation stands in solidarity with all workers on indefinite strike at five Woolworths distribution centres in Victoria and New South Wales. The strike as of today has entered its thirteenth day of action, with more than 1,500 workers taking part in the industrial action. The strike follows six months of failed negotiations between the United Workers Union and Woolworths on firstly scrapping new productivity reforms, and secondly on boosting wage increases above the rate of inflation.
To boost both productivity and their bottom line, Woolworths has introduced a “productivity framework” that requires warehouse workers to achieve a 100 percent performance target when picking up objects at speed. This makes work in an already dangerous and disaster-prone work environment even more hazardous by placing more pressure on workers. Make no mistake; should any workers die due to this policy, it will be workplace murder and Woolworths will be responsible.
Furthermore, this guideline is an arbitrary and unrealistic standard that places a cloud of uncertainty over all workers in these warehouses. No one can guarantee that they will be able to reach these standards on a given day, and as such they leave workers in constant fear for their employment. It therefore serves the additional purpose as a psychological disciplinary measure on some of the most precarious workers in this country.
The second demand by the strikers and UWU is for an immediate pay increase of 25%, followed by wage increases of 15% in the following two years of the agreement. Woolworths distribution centre workers do not currently receive pay increases above the rate of inflation, meaning they effectively have their pay cut year-on-year. This is especially horrific in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, crushing workers between rising rents and prices, and shrinking wages. This crisis has seen the reemergence of child malnutrition in Australia, shown through the increasing occurrence of “19th century diseases” such as scurvy. The Foodbank Hunger Report published this year noted that 2 million households in Australia have experienced severe food insecurity in the last 12 months, with these families skipping meals and cutting down on fresh food. This is the face of a war on the working class, and strikes such as these are our opportunity to fight back.
Thirteen days of industrial action have already caused Woolworths to claim $50 million in losses. Bare supermarket shelves paint tabloid headlines as the capitalist press and the grocers fret over the determination of the strikers to hold out until victory. All this with only five distribution centres and less than 2,000 workers on strike provides but a brief glimpse of both the fragility of the capitalist logistical system, and just how much power the working class has when it mobilises into political action.
There are a total of 8,000 workers across the Woolworths logistics network. To ensure the demands are met, we call for comrades to bring as many of these workers as possible into the strike action. We call for further industrial organising and indefinite strike action on the grocery store floor and in every other department of Woolworths.
RCO cadres attended the picket line at the Dandenong South distribution centre early Monday morning to defend an attempt to bus in scab labour to break the strike. The strikebreakers were escorted by Victorian police, displaying the class traitor Labor state government’s involvement in breaking the strike. The failure of this attempt to break the strike has galvanised the spirit of the workers present.
We commend the many communists, socialists, trade unionists, and radical workers who are standing in solidarity with the striking Woolworths workers. Many are present at the picket line, and the number of scabs being bussed in is decreasing by the day. As of this afternoon, The Building Industry Group of Unions (BIG), representing more than 80,000 workers in Victoria's building industry, has resolved to down tools and attend the picket “in large numbers” “at a moment’s notice” if Woolworths attempts to break the picket line. Laws against solidarity strikes brought in by Labor need to be violated if they are to be overturned, and it is a positive sign to see a large union willing to disregard them.
Despite this momentum, we must not let down our guard. Where possible, comrades should still visit and protect the picket lines, bring food, and donate to the strike fund. We must also use this as an opportunity to further unite the workers’ movement and the socialist movement; visiting comrades must bring radical literature and contribute to political discussion on the picket lines to raise the class consciousness of all striking workers. Industrial disputes are where the class struggle heightens; they are the schools of revolution, and we need to push for their success if we wish to see proletarian revolution in our lifetime.
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