Last Thursday 3 July, Woolworths made an offer to all parties regarding a new BRDC agreement.

The SDA delegates considered the company offer and on the Friday they advised the company that there were many parts of the offer that members would find unacceptable and asked the company to reconsider aspects of the proposal.

The SDA also sought paid meetings from the company to inform its members about the proposed offer. The company is considering this request and we are awaiting a final response.

Below is an overview of the offer put forward by Woolworths management. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact your local delegate or organiser.

The SDA will keep you updated as negotiations progress.

The company’s proposed offer is as follows:

• Agreement term of 3 years and 9 months (40 weeks)

• Pay increases of:
  Year 1: 4.0% on commencement
  Year 2: 3.8%
  Year 3: 3.8%
  Year 4: 3.6% for the remaining 9 months.

• Remove the 10 day cap on Public Holidays and allow casuals to receive the same benefit as Part Time and Full Time team members for any substituted Public Holidays
  In exchange for:
  – Providing the ability to direct work on a Public Holiday if there are insufficient volunteers in line with the National Employment Standards (NES)
  – Public Holiday Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) or Day Off In Lieu (DOIL) to be taken within the 60 days after the Public Holiday worked
  – Team Members are required to provide suitable documentation for absences either side of a weekend or Public Holiday or on the Public Holiday itself

• Afternoon shift allowance to increase by 10% in year 1, then increase at the same percentage as the wage rate thereafter (3.8%, 3.8%, 3.6%)

• Night shift allowance to increase by 10% in year 1, then increase at the same percentage as the wage rate thereafter (3.8%, 3.8%, 3.6%)
  In exchange for:
  – First aid and O.T meal allowances remaining at current levels.
  – The Freezer allowance to be deleted from the agreement

• Annual leave loading to increase from 17.5% up to 20%.
• Annual leave and the leave loading to be paid in the same pay cycle as it is taken

• Boot allowance to increase from $100 to $120 per employee per year
• The ability to apply to take twice the amount of annual leave, at half pay, in line with the company’s policy
• The ability to cash out annual leave in line with the company’s policy
• The ability to purchase additional leave in line with the company’s policy

• Start up stretching at the beginning of each shift – each team member to be entitled to a ten (10) minute period from the commencement of the rostered shift for the purposes of stretching, collecting all required equipment/machinery and picking up their first assignment

• The Company to provide casuals at least one (1) hour notice of casual shifts being cancelled (in full) prior to commencement via text, phone, email or other suitable means

• Compassionate leave – the ability to access two (2) days accrued personal or annual leave where a team member is required to travel more than 400km one way to attend a funeral

• Domestic violence clause the ability to access 2days of paid personal leave for members suffering from domestic violence, or to assist someone who is.

• Tea breaks to be combined into one 20 minute paid break. 

• Breaks not to be taken in the first or last hour of a shift, or within an hour of the meal break

• Employees to able to request a two hour paid minimum engagement for voluntary training and voluntary meetings
• Casuals to be paid 200% of the permanent rate on sundays, instead of the current 218.75%

• Reducing the Grade 1 hourly rate of pay for Casuals to $27.50 for new employees who join the company after Fair Work approve any agreement. This rate is then frozen for the life of the agreement but will only apply to new employees for the first 12 months of their employment