Before we know it – we have come to the end of another year – it’s time to bid farewell to 2023. While the year had its trials, as I look back at the year I can’t help but feel proud of what the SDA has achieved for members this year.
With the rising cost of living putting pressure on SDA members and everything from rent to groceries going up – the SDA ran a strong campaign to ensure workers received a decent pay rise in 2022.
The result of the campaign was a decision by the Fair Work Commission that minimum award rates would increase by 4.6%, with a $40 per week minimum increase.
This increase applied to workers on the General Retail Industry Award, Fast Food Industry Award and Storage Services Award. The increase was also passed on by companies including Woolworths, Coles, Big W, Kmart, Myer, Harris Scarfe, Hungry Jacks, Dominos, KFC and many others.
As inflation and the cost of living has continued to increase, in 2023 the SDA will again lodge a submission and campaign for another decent pay rise so workers can live in dignity and pay their bills.
After many years of campaigning, it was a great union win this year when the Albanese Federal Government announced they would legislate 10 days paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave into the National Employment Standards. This gives millions of Australians the entitlement to take up to ten days paid leave if they find themselves in a family or domestic violence situation including to:
• find a new place to live;
• pack belongings and relocated;
• attend court hearings; and
• make new childcare arrangements.
The Bill was passed in October and the new leave entitlement has now been enshrined in the National Employment Standards.
Unionists have campaigned tirelessly for paid Family and Domestic Violence leave and this is a great win for the union movement and all Aussie workers.
Earlier this year, the Queensland government held an inquiry into the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990. The SDA made a submission to the review to keep trading hours protections for retail workers.
The review committee adopted several recomendations from the SDA’s submission, including:
• enhanced work protections for employees, so they can freely choose whether to work in extended trading hours;
• further requirements to declare a ‘special event’ and request temporary extended trading hours for non-exempt retail stores’;
• a 12 month extension to the moratorium, which prevents changes to the Trading (Allowable hours) act.
These changes were passed into law in August. The SDA will continue to represent members interests in Trading Hours matters, as we know maintaining a reasonable work/life balance is a priority for SDA members.
In October, the Queensland government held a review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (QLD) to consider the overall effectiveness of the act and consider any necessary amendments to the legislation.
In the interests of members, the SDA made a comprehensive submission to the review, focused on the following areas:
• Tougher penalties for perpetrators of customer violence and abuse against retail and fast food workers;
• safe and free parking for retail and fast food workers;
• require employers to promote and educate workers about the Health and Safety representative (HSR) program;
• prohibition on employers coercing workers not to run to be a HSR or withdrawing their application;
• recommending workers who form part of a Health and Safety Committee be required to attend training provided by their choice of RTO approved regulator, the same training as a HSR attends; and
• Disallow Incentive payment schemes in connection to Lost Time Injury Reduction.
These amendments to the legislation would help to make workplaces safer for retail, fast food and warehouse workers and we look forward to hearing the findings of the review early in 2023.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all SDA members and their families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
While this is a very busy time for many people in these industries, I hope you have the opportunity to spend time with your family and relax.
Thanks to the SDA, Christmas Eve is now a public holiday from 6pm until midnight, and you will also enjoy two additional public holidays in on Tuesday, 27 December 2022 and Monday, 2 January 2022.
Remember, for many members working under SDA negotiated Agreements, public holidays are voluntary. This includes team members at Woolworths, Coles, Big W, Kmart, Target, Officeworks, David Jones, EG Fuel and many others. Please see the SDA’s public holiday bulletins delivered to your email or on your noticeboard for more information.
Chris Gazenbeek, Secretary
It has been a busy few months of bargaining for new and improved SDA agreements in several companies.
The new Coles Forest Lake & Heathwood enterprise agreement has been voted up by members, and has now been approved by the Fair Work Commission. The agreement offers members greatly improved redundancy conditions combined with a 4% upfront
wage increase and 14.74% over the life of the agreement which is a great win for union members at Coles DC Forest Lake and Heathwood.
Kmart DC members have also secured a new agreement, which has recently been approved by the Fair Work Commission. The agreement is a three year agreement with 4%, 3%, 2% pay increases with $1000 sign on bonus and a $200 Kmart Gift Voucher.
There is also a proposed new Target agreement which secures many hard won union conditions for Target members. At the time of writing, SDA Organisers have finished conducting rollout meeting to help members understand the new agreement, and the voting period has commenced.
EG Fuel members have also voted up a new agreement, securing new afternoon and night shift loadings, Saturday afternoon penalty rates and higher casual loading. The new agreement will come into effect on 30 January 2023.
Negotiating new agreements is one of the SDA’s key roles – and we will be opening negotiations with many other employers in 2023, so keep an eye out for Organisers in-store to complete your EBA Survey.
By Justin Power, SDA Assistant SecretaryIn 2011 the Bligh Labor Government legislated to make sure that whenever Christmas day or Boxing Day fell on a Saturday or a Sunday, both the actual Christmas day or Boxing Day as well as the following Monday/Tuesday were Public Holidays. This year Sunday 25th December, Monday 26th December and Tuesday 27th December are automatically public holidays with public holiday rates applying to these days and voluntary work for most SDA members.
We've had a lot of questions about the Christmas public holidays for Queensland, this year, so here is an explainer.
Christmas Eve Saturday 24th December part day Public holiday from 6pm.
This was won by SDA members campaigning the Palaszczuk Labor government in 2019 and now means public holiday rates apply for work after 6pm and is voluntary for most SDA members. All non-exempt stores (large supermarkets, hardware stores and department stores) must close at 6pm.
Christmas Day Sunday 25th December Public Holiday & Tuesday 27th Additional Public Holiday
Christmas day Sunday 25th is a restricted trading day, which means only certain shops and businesses are allowed to open. Non-Exempt stores are not allowed to open. Exempt stores include but are not limited to chemists, petrol sites, small independent supermarkets and fast food places are allowed to open. These are public holidays and public holiday rates apply for work done on the day and is voluntary for most SDA members.
Boxing Day Monday 26th December Public holiday Boxing Day Monday 26th of December is a public holiday and public holiday rates apply for work done on the day and is voluntary for most SDA members.
New Years Day Sunday 1st January Public holiday & Monday 2nd January Additional Public Holiday
In the past, New Years Day used to be substituted to the Monday whenever it fell on a Saturday or a Sunday. This was unfair to weekend workers. These are public holidays and public holiday rates apply for work done on the day and is voluntary for most SDA members.
Australia Day Thursday 26th of January Public holiday Australia Day is a public holiday and public holiday rates apply for work done on the day and is voluntary for most SDA members.
The SDA continues to work to improve public holiday entitlements for SDA members and Australian workers. If you need any further clarification of these public entitlements in relation to your particular roster please call the SDA office and speak with one of our team on 07 3833 9500.
Lynn from Woolworths in Rockhampton has been an SDA member for almost 16 years and an SDA shop steward for the past 12 years. Unfortunately during her tenure, she was diagnosed with breast cancer –but as a true inspiration, she fought and won against the disease and has become an advocate, raising awareness for breast cancer.
She offers the following advice:
• Get a routine mammogram, even if you don’t have any family history. Without this, the cancer would not have been identified;
• Stay positive and keep busy;
• Take all offers of help, because you will need it;
• Be honest and up front with people from the start so people can understand your limitations and give you privacy.
Lynn said she received a lot of support from her family, friends, her management team and of course the SDA. After negotiation with her employer, they allowed her the flexibility to continue to work on her good days and have the ‘wipe out days’, after chemotherapy, off work.
In October, her team at Woolworths held a breast cancer fundraiser and she says ‘the sea of pink was very humbling’. Lynn is now over four years on from her fight with cancer, and hopes to host a shindig next year to celebrate 5 years cancer free.
Lynn, we wish you all the best and are glad we’ve been able to support you on this journey. You are an inspiration to many for your honesty and your determination to raise awareness about breast cancer WILL save lives.
By Liz Berry, SDA OrganiserIf you work in retail, at some point in your career, you will no doubt see someone shoplifting. When you see someone shoplifting, you may feel like it is your responsibility to stop them or intervene – but it’s not.
It’s not in your job description to be a security guard – and intervening could pose a health and safety risk to yourself and others nearby, including customers. You cannot get in trouble for not stopping shoplifting, and your pay cannot be deducted for the losses.
It’s important to familiarise yourself with the company policy and procedures if you do witness shoplifting. They will vary from company to company but in general:
• You should report the incident to management or loss prevention as soon as possible;
• Note a general description of the offender and the time, location, department and date of the offence. If you work in a large store, the perpetrator may be on CCTV and this can help locate them;
• Stay in the general area of the shoplifter. Just the presence of a staff member can often make a shoplifter rethink their crime.
Although it may seem counter intuitive, you can get in trouble for attempting to STOP shoplifting, as it may breach the stores policy and procedures and create a health and safety hazard.
Penalties for violating policy and procedure can range from written warnings to termination of your employment.
• confront, threaten or accuse the shoplifter;
• follow the shoplifter out of the store; or
• touch or attempt to obstruct the shoplifter.
Instances of shoplifting are reported to be on the rise with the increased cost of living. Familiarise yourself with your companys shoplifting policy and if you have any questions, contact the SDA for support and advice.
By Tony Stapleton, SDA Trainer.It shouldn’t! An over-stacked roll cage is an unacceptable health and safety risk. Roll cages should be loaded in accordance with your company’s safe work practice guidelines.
If you’re given a roll cage like this, you should report it to management. If you do not report the problem – nothing will change. No one should be disciplined for following the company directive, regardless of what the floor manager says.
We get many members call our office about the workplace expectations for filling shelves. Members are told by management that they have a certain time limit to complete a task or fill a set number of boxes. This is called carton counting and its not acceptable. Members just need to work to the best of their ability and do the job correctly as per the training they have received.
Working too fast under pressure can create further health and safety hazards and taking short cuts such as leaving rubbish in shelves or not following established procedures leave you open to disciplinary action.
Your employer is responsible for providing you a safe work environment and this means rostering enough workers and time to do the job you’re assigned. If this doesn’t happen, it’s not your responsibility to make up the shortfall.
You should not be staying late, skipping breaks or ignoring safety precautions just to get the job done – and you shouldn’t ignore it if others do it either.
by Matt Littleboy - Workplace Health and Safety Officer“
SAY Thanks SDA for the KISS tickets I really appreciate it. I have never won anything like this before it’s AWESOME, can’t wait!Sharryn from Woolworths
SDA member Sharryn was very happy to win KISS tickets
Are you changing your address or other personal details? It is important you keep the SDA informed of your move, your change of phone number or even a new email address. Please send us an email to info@sdaq.asn.au with your new details.
The SDA recently conducted a survey of members working in retail and fast food in Queensland and unfortunately the findings were no surprise with 58% of repsondants experiencing abuse from a customer in the past 12 months with 89% of this being verbal abuse, and 11% being both verbal and physical abuse.
Customer violence and abuse against retail and fast food workers has been a problem for many years, and the SDA’s No One Deserves a Serve campaign has successfully managed to implement many preventative measures including messaging, signage, specialised training and body cams.
However, it seems that recently, much of the abuse has been centered around cost of living and stock shortage issues being blamed on workers – with members telling stories such as:
• “Price of fuel is to high so it was my fault, got yelled at but the customer and called me names”
• “Yelling at me because I have no control over what is not on the shelf. And no I don't know when it will be in.”
• “The customers abuse me cause when his card declined he rage on me saying that I stole his money and that he is going to call the police, get me fired and try to kill me.”
This constant exposure to violence and abuse by customers is taking its’ toll on retail and fast food workers with 88% of respondents indicating the abuse is causing ongoing mental health concerns:
• “Really disillusioned for a few weeks, as I always try really hard to provide a positive experience for every customer. It really knocked my confidence in my ability to handle difficult customers effectively. This was exacerbated by the lack of a physical barrier between us.”
• “I was anxious she would come back. Just try to get on with my job. I told my manager, he said he knew who she was.”
• “Cut my hours so I didn't have to work on registers.”
When asked what solutions respondents thought would help fix the issue, 72% stated offenders should be banned from stores; 42% said offenders should be fined or face jail time and 66% said more policy and security presence was required.
If one thing is clear after over five years of campaigning, surveys and research on customer abuse and violence – it’s that solving the issue will take a combined effort of team members, employers, government bodies, and of course, the SDA.
The SDA is currently engaging with companies to ensure they have appropriate policies in place to deal with customer abuse and violence, and that these are actually followed at store level.
Many employers have implemented measures after consultation with the SDA, and as a result of the No One Deserves a Serve campaign, including body cam trials, duress alarms, push to talk headsets, de-escalation training, in-store messaging and signage.
In a submission to the 2022 Work Health and Safety act review, the SDA has pressed the government to implement penalties for perpetrators such as fines and potential jail time for serious offenders.
Team members need to report every instance of customer abuse and violence that occurs. Don’t accept excuses from management about not having time, even if it means emailing the details to management after a shift and/or to the SDA. If instances of abuse do not get reported, your employer can claim it isn’t an issue.
By being persistent with this campaign, and working together to create change, we can help make work happier and safer for everyone.
By Chris Gazenbeek, SDA SecretaryMany of us just gloss over documents before signing them, or tick boxes to indicate our consent, without reading the full agreement. This signature or ticked box could commit you to much more than you intend, especially when it comes to your workplace.
It’s important to read and understand what you’re agreeing to. It is commonplace for your employer to request that you sign legal agreements from individual flexibility arrangements to settlement agreements without explaining their purpose.
These agreements define rights and obligations between parties that become legally binding and enforceable through the court system once the agreement has been signed. Most agreements in the workplace are drafted by the employer to pursue their own objectives, not the employees. Many of these agreements may seem simple enough, but impact situations you may not imagine in the future. A good example is provided by release of future liability clauses, which can prevent an employee from raising any claims against the employer in the future, even if a right to the claim was known at the time of the agreement.
Practice shows us that it can be difficult, and at times impossible, to walk away from an enforceable agreement without the other party’s consent – even if the other party is an employer in a superior bargaining position.
1. Understand the Agreement – in order to avoid contractual traps that can have significant consequences, read the terms and conditions carefully, including any defined terms, cross-references and other fine print. Even if you have signed a similar agreement in the past, the fine print may have changed as companies continuously tweak their standard terms in an attempt to make them more favourable to them.
2. Does it match your understanding? – While reviewing the agreement, ensure that all representations made by the employer are incorporated in the written agreement, and that it matches your understanding of the agreement. In the event the agreement contains blank or incomplete clauses “to be filled in later”, proceed with caution and request for the agreement to be finalised before signing it.
3. Take your time – As many agreements are drafted in complex legal language, take your time to review the agreement and ask for an extension if necessary. If a party to the contract tries to rush the process, it’s probably a red flag.
4. Seek advice – seek advice from the SDA for peace of mind. The union can assist you by reviewing the agreement and ensuring that you understand its full effect. This also increases the SDA’s awareness of the kind of agreements that employers are producing and enables the union to raise questionable terms and put pressure on employers to have them amended.
5. Keep a copy of the agreement – make sure you keep a copy of the agreement for your own records, as you may need it in the future.
By Darryn Gaffy SDA Industrial Officer
The SDA is the union for Retail, Fast Food and Warehouse workers. The best way to create a united and strong voice for workers at your workplace is to invite a workmate to join the SDA. The more members we have, the more we can improve your pay and conditions at work.
As an additional reward, if you refer a friend to the SDA and they join the SDA before 31 December you will receive a $20 fuel card from the SDA.
To refer a friend, just get them to fill out the form on the flip side of this flyer, then put your full name and mobile number in the section at the bottom of the form. You can then give this form to your SDA Organiser, SDA Shop Steward or post it to: The Secretary, PO BOX 490, Spring Hill QLD 4004.
Alternately, they can join online at join.sda.com.au and you can let us know you’ve referred a new member by scanning the QR code and filling out the referral form.
Scan to claim your referral
1. The Refer a Friend promotion runs from 8 November 2022 to 31 December 2022
2. Any financial member of the SDA who and refers a new member to join during this period will receive a $20 Fuel card.
3. Each new member referred earns the referring member a new $20 Fuel card (5 referrals = 5 Fuel cards)
4. Fuel cards will be sent by mail or email at the end of the promotional period & after confirmation of employment in retail, fast food or warehousing industries.
