Workers at Chemist Warehouse have won a significant victory with large pay rises and a substantial overhaul of the use of labour hire after a two-week strike at the group's major distribution centres.
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The strike, which involved picket lines to stop trucks supplying Chemist Warehouse stores, led to shortages on the shelves at the cut-price retailer.
Workers at Chemist Warehouse will get an immediate 8.75 per cent pay rise and over four years pay will be lifted by between 18.75 and 22.5 per cent, the National Union of Workers said.
It comes as the world's largest logistics company DHL faces an indefinite strike at its warehouses in Victoria and NSW as part of another large wage claim by the same union.
In a joint statement, Chemist Warehouse and the NUW welcomed the deal, with Chemist Warehouse director Damien Gance describing it as a "great outcome".
"Our people are critical to our success, and we have been able to achieve a balance between rewarding our current team and being able to continue to grow and offer more job opportunities," Mr Gance said.
NUW national secretary Tim Kennedy said in a time of "wage stagnation" it is "great to see workers in their union collectively bargain for wage increases, secure jobs and respect at work".
All casual labour hire workers who were on strike will get permanent jobs straight away, whereas casuals who worked through the strike will be able to convert to ongoing positions after six months.
Sluggish wages have become a feature of the Australian economy in recent years with wages growing just 2.3 per cent in 2018. The wage increase at Chemist Warehouse is more than three times that rate of growth.
The strike targeted large distribution centres at Somerton and Preston in Victoria and Eagle Farm in Queensland. All are vital to supplying Chemist Warehouse stores across Australia.
There were allegations that striking workers were targeted with violence and threats at the picket line - which were denied by Mr Gance.
The NUW had said workers at Chemist Warehouse distribution centres, who are paid about $24 an hour, were paid significantly less than Chemist Warehouse's competitors. The union had wanted at least 70 per cent of workers to be permanent, rather than the current level of about 25 per cent.
Chemist Warehouse has become best known for its ultra-cheap prices and its assault on the traditional pharmacy business model in Australia. It is unclear what effect, if any, the large rise in wages will have on Chemist Warehouse's prices.
The Chemist Warehouse group, which also trades as My Chemist, has skirted industry regulations that restrict ownership of pharmacies to pharmacists themselves and store location rules.
To bypass the rules, Chemist Warehouse operates as a complex franchise network - a web of partnerships between the founding families that own it and individual pharmacists.
Industrial action is set to flare up elsewhere next week after the NUW served notice on DHL that it would go on strike indefinitely as part of a claim for a 7 per cent a year increase in wages.
The strike is to set affect more than 500 workers and the union said workers at DHL were paid as little as $23.30 an hour.
The NUW's Mr Kennedy said: "Big, powerful corporations in Australia do not feel obliged to share their profits fairly. Workers at DHL have asked for a wage increase, they have sat down and tried to collectively bargain for a living wage, but they have been rejected."
DHL has been approached for comment. The company has a number of major pharmaceutical customers including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Chemist Warehouse.
