Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Fifty-six people have died in truck crashes this year, including 15 truck drivers. Every one of those people was someone's mother, father, son or daughter. There is no job where you are more likely to be killed or seriously hurt than truck driving. And, Amazon aside, nowhere is this more evident than at Aldi. Aldi is the only one of the three big supermarkets which refuses to commit to ensuring that drivers are paid a safe and sustainable rate. Aldi is the only major supermarket which stands by outdated and disgraced business practices, where they are happy to work their truck drivers into the grave if it makes them an extra buck. Drivers have told the Transport Workers Union that when they've complained about being forced to drive longer hours than allowed under fatigue laws, which is illegal, the managers have responded with, 'Maybe you need to go faster,' and, 'It's your job to manage your fatigue'. We have seen what happens with Aldi's approach to safety: an Aldi driver who crossed the median strip on the Hume Highway had a head-on collision with another truck, with so much force that the driver was thrown out of the cabin.

Aldi is the only major supermarket that went to the Federal Court to try to silence its truck drivers and their union representatives from criticising these practices. On top of that, Aldi lost the case resoundingly. Aldi should join the rest of us in the civilised community and end their barbaric war on its drivers and the travelling public.