MEDIA RELEASE
13 June 2005

Supermarket Staff Win Pay Victory

Thousands of low-paid supermarket workers are the latest to gain from unions’ push for a minimum five per cent pay rise, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

The National Distribution Union, which represents retail workers, is recommending members accept the offer which will see the average rate of pay for staff at Progressive Enterprises supermarkets rise by 5.2 per cent.

Supermarket staff have been undervalued and underpaid, Carol Beaumont said, but this year had strength in numbers to win a decent pay rise after voting to bring union members at Foodtown, Countdown and Woolworths supermarkets into one collective agreement.

The agreement was also important because it included a bargaining fee to ensure that the union gains were not passed on to non-union members for free.

“The CTU congratulates NDU members and we expect that this settlement will set a trend across the retail sector where many employers have been slow to recognise the value of their staff and pay them their fair share.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media