Right: The closure of the Coles Myer
MORE disgruntled workers have spoken out against the closure of the Coles Myer Hampton Park Distribution Centre.
The axing of 580 jobs has deeply angered some workers who have labelled the retail giant’s actions an ‘utter disgrace’ and claimed many employees had been left in the lurch.
The closure was announced last Tuesday and workers have since disputed comments made by Coles Myer that workers had been offered ‘voluntary’ redundancy packages and jobs at new distribution centres in Laverton and Somerton.
A Berwick father of five said he had worked at the centre for the past 11 years.
He declined to be named, but said the redundancy packages were far from voluntary and instead workers had been left with no choice but to take the payout and leave.
“The meeting was at 2.15pm and by 3pm people were out the door with envelopes in hand,” he said.
“Some will work until it closes, but the rest are finished. It was not voluntary, it was a straight out sacking. There was no choice.”
Another Berwick resident, 55, who had worked as a stock selector at the plant for the past 13 years described the situation as very underhanded.
He also declined to be named for fear of repercussions, but said he was disappointed that he would not be able to spend his last working years at the plant.
“It was not up front and was very misleading. I would say there will be a few houses on the market if people do not find new jobs soon,” he said.
“A lot of people are in shock and for a company that makes such a big profit you’d think they could show more compassion to their workers. They created a false sense of security for a long time.”
He said a vast majority of workers had not been offered new positions at the two distribution centres and he believed it would be too hard for people to take up the positions unless they moved.
“The travel would be more than an hour each way and with petrol costs it would be very difficult and the conditions would not be as good,” he said.
As reported in last week’s issue of the News, the plant will shut down over the next four to six weeks.
Coles Myer spokesman Scott Whiffin said the Hampton Park distribution centre was closing because the facility was no longer needed.
“We have made the decision to close these centres now to minimise uncertainly for our people and allow us to get new arrangements in place before the peak retail trading period,” he said.
– Rebecca Fraser
