Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More than 200 people met at the Broadmeadows Town Hall in my electorate last week. It was a meeting organised by the National Union of Workers to oppose the proposed closure of the Woolworths distribution centre and the subsequent loss of hundreds of local jobs in Broadmeadows in my electorate. Woolworths' decision to leave Broadmeadows will see the potential loss of up to 340 full-time jobs and approximately 400 part-time jobs and casual jobs.

At their proposed new site on the other side of Melbourne, Woolworths will have decreased their full-time roles by about 150 positions. Therefore, if any of the existing employees in my electorate are indeed able to travel to the other side of Melbourne to the new site, and if in fact jobs are on offer, an opportunity for a position will only be available to 190 of the current 340 full-time workers. This suggests that the workload in the new proposed site will be compensated by an increase in casual, contract and hire labour, all of which offer fewer protections for workers. This is a very dangerous and growing reality facing the Australian workforce.

In response to Woolworths' announcement of their departure from Broadmeadows, the National Union of Workers has launched a campaign to try to save the jobs for our local community. The meeting that I attended last week was organised by the NUW, and its aim was to protect workers' jobs and create new opportunities for workers in Melbourne's northern suburbs. The campaign will centre around a petition, which I have signed. I support their efforts to keep Woolworths jobs in Broadmeadows, and I also support all their efforts to reverse this appalling decision, for my community.

An important question remains as to why the distribution centre—which is a highly efficient and very productive centre—is being moved from Broadmeadows. No justification, unfortunately, has been given by the Woolworths board. In fact, I think they need to explain the business case that led them to this appalling decision.

The loyalty, dedication and hard work of their workforce is now being repaid by mass sackings—compliments of the very ugly face of Woolworths, the fresh food people. My constituents want to know why they, like the 97 Hutchison Ports workers, were informed by text that they were about to lose their jobs. This is a deeply insensitive means of communicating a life-changing announcement—one that will impact on my constituents' ability to support their families and pay their mortgages.

So I call on the Woolworths board to explain what opportunities now exist or will exist for those workers who will become unemployed. Surely it is the very least that they could do for the people who have worked so hard and with such dedication to ensure Woolworths' success and profits. So I condemn the move and I call on Woolworths to change its decision and maintain the distribution centre in Broadmeadows.