‘We’re humans, not robots’: Woolworths staff return to work after 17-day strike 

Just in time for the Christmas rush, Woollies’ warehouse workers, a part of the United Workers Union (UWU), have concluded their industrial action after reaching an agreement with the supermarket giant.

After 17 days of staunch industrial action, workers across three Woolworths warehouses in Victoria and one in NSW voted to accept a revised offer from the supermarket.

Back on 21 November, 1,500 warehouse workers across four distributions walked off the job, striking for improved working conditions, safety, pay, and equity. A major piece of the industrial action was a revolt against a newly implemented AI “framework,” which the UWU had previously described as a high-risk management approach to pushing workers to operate faster.

The “framework” system of performance management has introduced a demanding surveillance software that is constantly monitoring workers, resulting in disciplinary consequences for those who fail to maintain a 100 per cent pick rate. The UWU’s message was clear: the workers want to be “treated as human beings, not robots”.

Despite the framing from Woolworths that these strikes were primarily fixated upon wage increases, this “framework” was a huge focus for the union and the workers it represents.

The tension over the 17-day period of the strikes continued to rise, with Woolworths filing an application to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), claiming that the union was blocking access to the warehouses that replacement workers were attempting to access.

During the hearing at the FWC, Woolworths’ lawyers claimed that this blatant obstruction was a “gun to the head” for Woolworths and disrupter for the good-faith bargaining between the supermarket and the union. After the hearing, the FWC ordered striking workers to stop blocking access to the warehouses.

As the days continued to pass, with neither side willing to budge, many hypothesised the chance of this strike spilling over past Christmas and into the New Year, much to the dismay of the Australian consumer.

Workvergent founder and managing industrial relations consultant Troy Gread believed that the strikes could continue past Christmas, citing that if Woolworths were to “sharpen the pencil”, everything they’ve done up to this point would’ve been for nothing.

“Coming into Christmas, now there’s a perception in the general. [However], if they crumble now, then all the work that they’ve done up until this point in time is a waste. There [are] only three ways this is going to end: the unions cease industrial action, the commission steps in, or Woolworths sharpen [its] pencil. I don’t see any of those three options happening before Christmas,” said Gread.

However, Gread did say that the court of public opinion could play a big part in how the strikes continue, as consumer frustration was beginning to boil over due to the empty shelves.

Paul O’Halloran, partner and head of office at Dentons, agreed with this notion, arguing that the public pressure would be too much for the supermarket giant to withstand, considering the fact that they have already fallen out of favour with many Australians over price-gouging allegations.

“It’s consumers who will feel the real impact. I think it’s unlikely the action will continue past Christmas because Woolworths will continue to face escalating backlash from consumers due to empty shelves leading into the holiday period. This will lead to brand damage and loss of profits to consumers,” he said.

Ultimately, O’Halloran was correct, as Woolworths proposed workplace agreements on the AI “framework” that they have implemented, which would break the link between measuring the speed of their work and automatic punishment if they fall behind.

The union agreed with these negotiations, paired with the agreement that workers’ wages would increase, above inflation – an agreement that would take place across all sites.

“This has been a very hard struggle to get to this point, with workers forgoing pay on strike for 17 days to stand united against a punitive performance management system, Woolworths called the framework,” said UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy.

“This dispute is important because it was about the right of workers to have input into how AI [algorithmic} systems can be used to set the speed of work to undertake surveillance at work, and ensure a system that is transparent, fair and respects fundamental humanness of people.”

“Breaking the link between measuring the speed of workers and automatic discipline if they fall behind is a significant achievement of the workers, and a sign that workers will have a say about how work is regulated as we move from the industrial age to the AI digital age.”

This saga proves to be the latest example of union power, which has been a focal point of workplace discourse in 2024, with unions becoming more and more active. With a supermarket giant like Woolworths subsequently folding to the UWU, it shows that the power of workers, in line with public perception, cannot be understated.