Woolworths has had a small victory today against the union that is supporting strike action at its distribution centres. 15-hundred workers are still off the job leaving shelves bare and throwing the supermarket's supply chain into chaos.
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00:00The picket lines have made headlines now.
00:07The Fair Work Commission has found these protests outside Woolworths hubs are unlawful and hurting
00:13negotiations between the union and the company.
00:16I think the problem is that Woolworths are used to just saying it's our way or the highway,
00:21whether that's to farmers, suppliers or customers.
00:25The decision is a win for the supermarket giant as strikes in its distribution centres
00:32drag on now into a third week.
00:35They're throwing the supermarket supply chain into chaos with some shelves sitting half
00:40empty.
00:41And now farmers are saying that they're having orders cancelled by the supermarket giant
00:46as its customers head into other retailers.
00:50Woolworths legal team successfully argued the picket lines are stopping staff that aren't
00:54striking from going into work, with their legal counsel calling them obstructive, unfair
01:00and a metaphorical gun.
01:03It's an obvious pressure point for Woolworths who are struggling, he said.
01:07Woolworths case in the Fair Work Commission was seen as novel and rare.
01:12Legal experts say the decision is likely to be appealed.
01:16It does expose some of the flaws in the way the Fair Work Act protects workers' rights
01:21in this respect.
01:23Any order made by Fair Work that could move on the picket lines won't actually end the
01:30strikes.
01:31A strike will not end until there's a fair agreement.
01:34So the point of the Fair Work Commission is really it delays resolution.
01:39Woolworths has already revealed it's lost $50 million in sales due to this action.
01:45Every day this drags on, it loses millions more.
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