Warehouse staff worried over merger
Nelson Warehouse staff already struggling to meet demand are concerned about their workload ahead of a merger with Warehouse Stationery.
Nelson’s Warehouse Stationery will shift its operation into The Warehouse on Saint Vincent St, in a phased move that will be complete when the stationery store closes its Bridge St site on July 22.
First Union organiser Ross Lampert said The Warehouse staff he advocated for had concerns about the move.
‘‘They’re downsizing staff as they move, shifting workloads that are coming over from Warehouse Stationery onto Warehouse staff without raising staff levels.’’
‘‘[Staff] are already struggling to keep up as it is.
‘‘[However] it’s really challenging for Warehouse workers to get a guaranteed number of hours to make ends meet,’’ Lampert said.
The two stores are part of The Warehouse Group, a retail group that also includes Noel Leeming, Torpedo7 and TheMarket. The move follows other mergers around the country as the group implements a ‘‘store-withina-store’’ concept.
A Nelson Warehouse staff member, who Stuff agreed not to name, said workers were already unhappy with the conditions.
Staff members were having to leave their stations to act as cover in others where demand was high, the staff member said.
This had been thrown into sharp relief over the last couple of years as staff contended with ‘‘snippy’’ customers ‘‘on the edge’’, while trying to social distance and avoid illness. ‘‘It’s been stressful at times.’’ With few incentives to stick it out long term, staff turnover had been high, they said.
When concerns were raised with the management, the reply was, ‘‘I’ll give it some thought’’ – and then ‘‘you never heard from them again’’, they said.
The staff member was waiting to see what the next few months would bring before deciding whether to stay on.
The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery regional store lead, Chris Watkins, did not answer Stuff’s questions regarding the staff concerns about their workload, or how many workers would lose their jobs.
However, he said most of Warehouse Stationery’s 11 staff members would move to The Warehouse.
‘‘We’re working through redeployment options with the team at the moment, with the opportunity to either move across to the new store or to another store across our brand network.’’