Thousands of Woolworths workers would work a four-day week if a proposed new agreement with the retail giant is given the green light.
The Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) union — that covers an estimated 130,000 workers — is supporting a move for flexible rostering.
A new amendment to the latest enterprise agreement would see Woolworths employees complete their 38-hour working week over just four days, in 9.5-hour shifts.
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Despite the move, it’s expected that team members will still work shifts over the weekend, given that Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days for trade at Woolworths.
SDA NSW secretary Bernie Smith said members “overwhelmingly endorsed” the new deal.
“A proposal will be out for a few weeks for members to consider and ask questions,” he said.
“Then the proposal will be subject to a vote by the members to approve it.”
The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, however, described the proposal as “smoke and mirrors”.
“In bargaining, we pushed for an actual right that would guarantee that Woolworths agree to a request for a four-day week, but this deal falls far short of that,” National Industrial Officer for RAFFWU Loukas Kakogiannis told 7NEWS.com.au.
“Woolworths are treating the media as uneducated and workers as fools to try to dress up a terrible agreement.
“This deal locks in poverty rates that are cents above the absolute minimum. It allows part-time workers’ rosters to be changed without their agreement. And it fails to deliver the safer workplaces that workers are demanding.
“Workers deserve so much better from a company making multi-million-dollar profits.”
7NEWS.com.au understands that Woolworths is still in the bargaining process with other unions.
If the agreement goes ahead, the supermarket chain would become the latest Australian business to adopt a four-day week for employees.
In 2023, Bunnings passed a similar proposal for its employees, while Medibank also commenced a six-month trial using the 100:80:100 model.
The trial – tested on 250 Medibank employees – sees workers take home 100 per cent of their pay after working 80 per cent of their standard hours and showing 100 per cent productivity.