Supermarket staff: It will be ‘bedlam’
Supermarket workers say food retailers are woefully underprepared for the Omicron outbreak in the face of short staffing, increased workloads and burnout.
Mary* has worked for a Waikato Countdown’s online shopping department for two years. She says the pressure on staff has been building since the Covid pandemic started – and with Omicron cases on the rise, many are now reaching their breaking point.
‘‘As soon as it hits, it will be bedlam, quite frankly,’’ said Mary. ‘‘And yeah, we will run out of stuff and the shelves will be empty.’’
Kathy*, who works at another Waikato supermarket and is also a union rep, said there was ‘‘no way’’ supermarkets were prepared for Omicron.
‘‘They should have got prepared way before lockdowns, but they are losing a lot of staff because of the fears they have and the way they have been treated throughout the pandemic.’’
In Australia, Omicron has caused significant issues at supermarkets. Many have empty aisles due to a lack of staff to drive goods to stores or pack shelves, as thousands stay home sick or in self-isolation.
Mary, who was already working up to five extra hours a day in overtime due to workload, said she feared the same thing would happen here.
‘‘We’re hugely, hugely at risk.
‘‘You’ll call us heroes for a couple of months, but you won’t treat us like heroes. The working conditions we are under are breaking us.’’
Customer aggression was also contributing to the strain staff were feeling, Mary said. Many were dealing with ‘‘totally privileged people’’ who did not follow mask and social distancing rules.
Wellington supermarket workers are experiencing the same issues.
Justin*, who works in the produce department of a Countdown in the region, said a lack of staff meant supermarkets didn’t have the capacity to deal with panic buying.
The way the business was run also didn’t allow for much flexibility when people were sick with usual ailments like the flu, he said.
‘‘And here we have this extremely infectious disease, combined with the number of people that we do come into contact with. A lot of our staff will be getting sick.
‘‘I don’t think that we’ll be able to cope. It will be a huge problem.’’
The mental health of many of his co-workers had suffered so much many were looking at quitting, Justin said.
‘‘I’m seeing people showing signs of stress and if they’re not breaking down at work, then I’ll hear about them breaking down at home.’’
Countdown director of corporate affairs, safety and sustainability Kiri Hannifin said the supermarket giant had been preparing ‘‘as much as possible’’ for Omicron since the beginning of December.
It has done this by shoring up supply chains and actively recruiting more staff to ensure it could manage large-scale absenteeism, Hannifin said.
However, Mary said the supermarket needed to do more, for example, reducing the number of people allowed in stores, and hiring more security guards.
Kathy said supermarket employees didn’t need thanks – they needed a pay rise.
‘‘We haven’t been recognised. A box of chocolates or a gift card ain’t good enough, it’s not going to save us, and it’s not something we can live on.’’
In August, Foodstuffs and Countdown gave essential staff a temporary 10 per cent pay
‘‘They should have got prepared way before lockdowns, but they are losing a lot of staff because of the fears they have and the way they have been treated throughout the pandemic.’’ ‘‘Kathy’’ Supermarket worker
boost for working through the recent level 4 lockdown. This was then rolled back once Covid-19 restrictions eased.
First Union national retail organiser Ben Peterson said problems were being reported from all the large supermarket chains.
‘‘Companies are trying to get less people to do more and more work until it pushes people to the edge.’’
Supermarket employees had been seen as ‘‘disposable, bottom-of-the-barrel workers’’ for a long time, but that was changing as people had come to realise their importance during the pandemic.
‘‘If it’s essential work you need to pay people well. And paying people well is part of the societal change towards respecting those people.’’
The Sunday Star-Times renamed all supermarket workers to protect their employment.