Contact center staff at Woolworths New Zealand have gone on strike for the third time in two weeks, affecting the retailer’s phone and email customer support lines that handle online ordering and logistics, complaints and refunds, and loyalty program queries at the busiest time of year.
Workers First Union members are striking in response to proposed changes they describe as “clawbacks” to their working conditions.
Elle Sun-Min Park, Organizer at Workers First, said union members are resisting Woolworths’ attempts to make three main changes: requiring workers to be available for 12 hours a day while being paid for eight; removing their right to one weekend day off; and forcing staff back to Auckland-based offices despite many being hired as permanent remote workers. The union has also expressed concern about the potential for their jobs to be outsourced, as advertisements for their roles, which report to Australian managers, have been placed in Manila, Philippines.
“In terms of how they treat workers, Woolworths used to be the better half of the supermarket duopoly,” Park said. “Their reputation is getting worse every day, and their approach is punitive and unnecessary.”
The “flexi-start” availability is one of the most contentious proposals. The strike also highlights a growing tension between companies’ workforce strategies and post-pandemic policy reversals. Many Woolworths customer care employees were recruited into permanent remote roles after 2020 and some have since relocated their families outside Auckland.
Changes to work-from-home agreements may simplify managerial oversight, but they come at a reputational cost. For customers, inconsistent service levels and longer wait times are often the first visible symptoms of employee discontent, and disruptions during emotionally charged periods amplify customer dissatisfaction and brand damage.
RNZ reported that around 105 staff were involved in the Christmas Eve contact center strike, with the union expecting delays for customer enquiries.
Customer Service Suffers When Employee Experience Breaks Down
Christmas is already a stress test for customer service departments. Volumes spike, emotions run high, and contact centers become the human firewall between operational complexity and customer trust.
When the employee experience erodes, customer experience follows, often at the worst possible moment. These issues affect response times and the agents’ efforts to keep customer interactions calm and constructive, especially during peak trading periods.
Woolworths, for its part, disputes the union’s characterization according to RNZ. Mark Wolfenden, Director of Ecommerce stated:
“We are disappointed the union has chosen to do this today, our busiest day of the year for our customers and our team.”
“It’s also disappointing that the union have decided to bargain in the media, rather than come back to the table to secure a deal for their members, especially as there is an offer on the table which is fair and reasonable,” Wolfenden added.
Wolfenden said statements about staff being forced back into the office were untrue and that the company would “continue to support flexible working arrangements which are designed to best serve our customers and their needs. We will also continue to pay team for all the hours they work.”
Workers First alleges that Woolworths locked out staff for two days in retaliation for a previous three-hour contact center strike action earlier this month.
“This Christmas, they have taken the ‘scrooge’ approach and locked out workers for two days as a retaliation for a three-hour strike action, which is their democratic right,” Park said.
Across industries, customer service teams rely on frontline workers while having limited influence over bargaining, workforce policy, or cost-cutting decisions. Yet when contract center employees are dissatisfied, customers experience those decisions immediately in longer queues, slower resolutions and emotionally fatigued agents.
