HUNDREDS OF PROTESTING TRANSPORT WORKERS CALL ON NEW ALDI CEO TO COMMIT TO A SAFE SUPPLY CHAIN AS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PREPARES TO TABLE LEGISLATION

Today hundreds of transport workers will protest at Aldi Mt Druitt calling on Aldi to sign up to principles on safe, fair and sustainable supply chains, ahead of the tabling of legislation to set enforceable standards in road transport.

Transport workers are calling on newly-appointed Aldi Australia CEO Anna McGrath to follow the lead of supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths and work towards a charter with the TWU on safety and fairness in their supply chain.

The TWU said Aldi’s refusal to work with transport workers on safety in their supply chain, and two failed attempts in the Federal Court to silence truck drivers on safety, shows why it is urgent for Federal Parliament to pass legislation to enforce safe, fair and sustainable standards for all transport workers.

In the last financial year, there were a staggering 347 insolvencies in the transport industry, including Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics of which Aldi was a client.

This year, 147 people have been killed in truck crashes on Australian roads, 37 of them truck drivers.

TWU NSW/Qld State Secretary, Richard Olsen, said:

“Aldi has been given numerous opportunities to come to the table on supply chain safety and fairness, and not only knocked them back but launched unprecedented legal action against transport workers, attempting to silence them on safety.

“With a new CEO, and legislation on the cusp of being introduced to Federal Parliament, participating in positive action to improve safety and fairness in its supply chain is the logical approach and the responsible approach for Aldi to take.

“Every day of delay is another day that transport workers are under deadly pressure from the top of the supply chain. While wealthy clients like Aldi reap mammoth profits, it’s workers and operators who end up footing the bill, teetering on razor-thin margins and under pressure to delay maintenance, speed, and drive fatigued to make ends meet.

“While drivers and operators are being undercut from the wealthy clients at the top of the supply chain, the gig economy is pulling the rug out from underneath the industry through its exploitative model that drives down standards and conditions.

“This whole industry is crying out for change. Aldi can step in today to ensure it plays its part in making sure its supply chain is safe, fair and sustainable.

“Only recently over a thousand workers across the country, backed by organisations across the transport industry, joined convoys calling for urgent transport reform. This industry is united as it has never been united before, and Aldi now has the opportunity to join that wave of support and work towards reducing the crisis in transport, instead of profiting from it. We’re calling on Federal Parliament to urgently back in that legislation when it is tabled.”

Aldi has failed to respond to a set of safety principles put to them in March, along with 39 other top retailers, food and beverage and agricultural companies.