Hundreds of workers from inside The Warehouse's North Island distribution centre are set to walk off the job next week after negotiation talks with the retail company turned sour.
First Union says workers are frustrated with the handling of restructures as well as its treatment toward labour-hire workers.
While the company posted a multi-million dollar profit, workers in store were facing layoffs and those in distribution centres where battling to their own seperate issues in terms of pay.
"DC workers have also been watching the absolute sham and rort of their employer making hundreds redundant in stores around the country while they are literally rushing stock in and out of trucks and warehouses at a pace like they’ve never seen before," says union organiser Hayley Courtney.
It comes after the big box retailer confirmed a large restructure last week.
Around 270 staff members will be taking part in the walk-out.
Operations inside the company's distribution centre, which is responsible for the handling of online orders and the shipment of goods throughout the country, is likely to grind to a halt once the strike commences at midnight on Monday.
The company is scrambling to ease the impact for customers, with online orders around the North Island likely to be delayed as a result.
Stores across the North Island as well as the South Island distribution centre will send deliveries in an effort to mitigate the impact on the Warehouse's online deliveries.
First Union's Tali Williams says the company is looking to cut 5000 hours' in total.
The Warehouse says while it respects its employees' right to strike, it believes the current offer up for negotiation is reasonable.
"We are disappointed in this action due to the fact we have been negotiating in good faith for many months now,” chief operating officer Pejman Okhovat told 1 NEWS.
The company says many of the staff inside the distribution centre are considered to be paid a wage "above the upper quartile for the retail industry", with even the lowest paid staff members still earning eight per cent higher than the living wage.
According to First Union, the decision to strike was reached after multiple attempts to "provide a pathway for labour-hire workers into secure jobs" was tossed out by The Warehouse.
"It’s supremely offensive to be milked for all they are worth and then dismissed without notice or reason so the company can avoid legal obligations to employ them directly," says Courtney.
Nevertheless, the Warehouse is calling for its team members to reconsider the deal on the table which it says offers security in a time when the job market is particularly scarce.
"We're focused on giving our distribution centre members certainty. We are offering a pay increase on an already competitive rate and enhanced bereavement and sick leave provisions," says Okhovat.
The 24-hour strike is the first action to be taken by these workers on the issue, but First Union says it may not be the last if negotiations don't improve.
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