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Woolworths is racing against the clock to restock supermarket shelves before Christmas. (9News) A Woolworths spokesperson said today staff had been working tirelessly to get business back to normal. “By the end of today, 312 trucks will have been delivered from the four reopened sites to 249 supermarkets across Victoria, the ACT and southern NSW,” a spokesperson said. “In the last 48 hours, we will have processed more than a million cartons across our four distribution centres and deliveries are now underway.” “With just over two weeks until Christmas, we are now focused on getting product out of our distribution centres and restocking as quickly as possible.” “Reopening such a large part of the supply chain means it will take some time for our stores to get up to speed and we will be ramping up production as much as possible to get product to the stores that need it most.” The spokesperson said the company “sincerely apologised” to affected customers. “We know how frustrating it has been to shop with us in Victoria, the ACT and parts of NSW in recent weeks,” the spokesperson said.
Empty shelves at the Woolworths Metro store on the corner of Spencer and Collins streets. (April Lombardo)
Woolworths workers picket outside the Dandenong South distribution centre on Monday, December 2, 2024. PHOTO BY THE AGE/LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI (LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI)Woolworths said it expected losses to rise further into 2025 because of the time and money it would take to rebuild stock levels ahead of the Christmas shopping period. During the strike, shelves in some stores were left empty and distribution centres unable to ship goods. Woolworths said the new agreement offered workers a wage increase of about 11 per cent over three years, while also addressing concerns about performance metrics.