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Elevate Magazine
June 20, 2024

Grocery Workers Suffer Low Pay and Customer Abuse, Survey Finds

grocery workers

A survey of over 1,500 supermarket and grocery store workers from New Zealand’s major retail players reveals significant concerns across the industry, highlighting issues of low pay, understaffing, and customer abuse.

The survey, conducted electronically in May via First Union’s member database, indicates that most supermarket workers are struggling with the high cost of living, with more than 70% of participants saying their wages were not enough to cover living expenses. Over 60% of the workers surveyed also reported that their pay raises over the past two years had not kept pace with rising costs. 

Furthermore, 69% of workers had thought of quitting their jobs in the last two years, and on top of this, 90% said their stores were understaffed.

The survey also revealed that workers are facing frequent incidents of customer abuse in understaffed supermarkets, where the majority of workers are typically paid less than the living wage. Over a third of respondents reported experiencing verbal assaults or threats at work, and 30% indicated they had encountered thieves in their stores.

Union national secretary for retail and finance Rudd Hughes expressed his dismay with the findings and emphasised how these workers were once celebrated as heroes during the pandemic but are now being treated differently by their employers. 

“Supermarket workers were hailed as heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this survey shows that they are certainly not treated that way by employers, with the majority still not fairly paid or looked after at work,” said Hughes. 

“Understaffing is a major contributor to workers’ stress and burnout, and it makes supermarkets much more unsafe workplaces for staff than they should be.”

“No one should have to deal with regular and sustained danger and abuse at work, and least of all those who aren’t even paid a living wage and have few prospects for improvements in the workplace,” he added. 

Hughes said the survey’s conclusions would play a crucial role in defining the minimum standards for the union’s upcoming negotiations with all major supermarket chains.

“There is no reason that the supermarket duopoly should have the power to suppress fair wage growth and leave an entire industry so understaffed, underpaid, and stressed out—it doesn’t have to be this way, and our members and delegates will be looking to change that course over the coming year,” he stated. 

Meanwhile, several supermarket companies are already establishing protocols to ensure employee safety. In February, Foodstuffs announced that up to 25 Pak’nSave and New World supermarkets will implement facial recognition technology in an effort to address increasing thefts and incidents of violence against staff.

Woolworths Supermarkets also said, “We are proud to pay our store team market-leading rates, to offer market-leading team benefits, and to be rolling out a $45 million safety improvement plan to ensure our team is safe at work.”