Coles enterprise bargaining agreement
Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:23): (782) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Industrial Relations, and the action that I seek is that he support Coles workers in their current wage negotiations to ensure that they are paid a living wage that keeps up with the ever-increasing cost of living. Coles workers cannot afford to shop at Coles. I mean, many, many people are struggling to shop at Coles and Woolies, but when you have staff members who work close to full-time hours having to rely on charities to feed themselves, it should outrage us all. While Coles are boasting a profit of $1.1 billion for the last financial year, they are offering their workers Coles gift cards as a sweetener to accept the current employer agreement, which erodes their conditions: ‘Sorry, we can’t pay you properly, but here’s $150 or $250. Take the deal or else.’ It has been reported that staff have been relying on the free fruit and cookies in the staff rooms for meals or skipping them altogether. Workers are only putting tiny amounts of fuel into their cars to get them to and from work and nothing more.
And the current agreement that will determine the wages and work conditions for the next four years does not offer much more than the gift cards. The junior rates, which apply to workers up to two years after they turn 18, are sticking around; split shifts are being introduced; and any pay rises will be tied to the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review, which sets the award rates. These important retail workers need a decent living wage. They need job security, better work conditions and safer workplaces. The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union are fighting to improve the pay and conditions being offered to Coles workers. I stand in solidarity with them. Join your union, and if you work at Coles or Woolies, join the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union.