The United Workers' Union (UWU) has launched a campaign and petition against Country Road Group, claiming the workers in its warehouse have been left feeling "disrespected, mistreated and underpaid."
In a dedicated website dubbed 'Country Rogue' the UWU claimed that workers – a high percentage of which the UWU said are women – at CRG Logistics Pty Ltd (Country Road Group's warehouse) are being paid as much as $10 less per hour than their male counterparts who do the same work, in the same suburb.
The UWU claimed that almost half of the warehouse workers are agency casuals, meaning that their work is not secure.
In the statement on the Country Rogue website, the UWU said the workers want to be treated fairly.
"Warehouse workers at Country Road Group in Melbourne are fighting for respect.
"Instead of sharing [its] profits with the workers who created them, Country Road Group has subjected workers to rampant insecure work, low wages, bullying and intimidation and has slashed their rights to organise as a Union on site.
"Country Road provides no pathway to permanent work in their EBA. At Country Road, insecure work is part of their business model.
"The higher than average percentage female workforce at Country Road’s warehouse is on considerably less money than other male dominated warehouses in Western Melbourne.
"Workers have experienced disrespectful treatment, faced intimidation and bullying. Workers have lost many of the rights they were once afforded as members of their Union. Country Road workers want to be treated with respect.
"Despite the massive profits made by Country Road, their workers have been left feeling disrespected, mistreated and underpaid. They are demanding fair treatment now," the UWU said.
In a statement provided to Ragtrader, a spokesperson for Country Road rejected the claims made by the UWU.
"At Country Road Group we are committed to ensuring a growing and sustainable future for our business that will enable us to invest in our teams and build capabilities.
"Over the past 10 months we have been in consultation with bargaining representatives to agree on wage increases every year for the next three years through the EBA process.
"Through collaborative discussion we increased our initial offer in May; this offer is 11% higher than the award rate set by the Fair Work Commission, and reflects our values of fairness, flexibility and sustainability following meaningful consultation with our team.
"Our distribution centre team members have always been paid wages that are above the industry award rate set by the FWC.
"Regrettably, the UWU has responded to a fair and reasonable process by attempting to publicly discredit our brands with false and baseless allegations of underpayment, bullying and harassment to leverage its demands.
"This is an unfortunate and unreasonable approach, which unfairly tarnishes our brands and our team without merit.
"Some of our distribution centre team members have taken steps in preparation for industrial action.
"We support their right to take this action but cannot support the unsustainable outcomes they seek or reward action that negatively impacts our customers and team.
"We are clear in our approach and responsibilities: fairness and sustainability in delivering wage growth will in turn support welfare and future opportunities for our entire team," the spokesperson said.
According to the Country Road Group website, the CRG Logistics Omni Fulfilment Centre is a state-of-the-art facility that "re-defines what it means to work in a warehouse."
CRG states that the 21,000 sq. ft. warehouse was built with the environment, safety and our employees in mind.
"Based in Truganina our fulfilment centre it is the first ‘5 Star Green Star – Industrial As Built v1’ rated facility in Victoria and incorporates design elements to minimise environmental impact and deliver benefits to both employees and to the community," CRG states on its website.
At the time of writing, the UWU's petition has garnered 7239 signatures out of a goal of 8000.