the progressive workers' strike

[Paul in NZ]

It is a bit trickier than that. The "direct" model is usually only used for fresh produce etc. The distribution centres receive large shipments from each supplier (ie a truck load), then split those into small shipments to each store, and combine those . IE the distribution centre gets lots of trucks, one (or more) from each supplier. Each store gets only one truck , containing a variety of goods.(Plus the fresh stuff on the direct model)

Now, if Progressive use the direct model to get round the strike (a) they're out on a limb, because to grind down the price they pay suppliers, they've extensively leveraged the "only one delivery point" benefit to the supplier. If Progressive now want Supplier X to make several hundred deliveries (and small ones) instead of one big one, Supplier X is going to take the opportunity to demand a rethink on that pricing (fair enough, hundreds of small deliveries is much more expensive than one big one). and (b) most of the stores are not set up to handle such a large volume of trucks. They don't have the space or the staff, that's all at the distribution centre.

The old military problem. Concentrate your forces, and you provide a single target for the enemy to take out.

EDIT. A lot of Progressives suppliers are sniggering happily. Very privately of course. But anything they do to help Progressive out will come at a price, depend on it. Progressive don't have too many friends, and from the suppliers point of view, it's no big deal if Progressive have stock problems, customers will just buy the suppliers product from a competing supermarket.Supplier doesn't lose any sales. Incidentally Progressive will lose out again down the line, because that pricing of theirs also includes heavy rebate payments which depend on Progressive meeting purchasing budgets.

Well said that man!!

The introduction of the distribution centres have affected a lot more than just the delivieries. Hundreds of mostly part time workers (usually women with school age children) known as 'Merchandisers' are under threat as well. While in some cases this is not a big deal in many cases, these people are earning the extra cash familes need to survive. I know a lot of them have been worried about their future.

The grocery trade is a viscious one. Even nice people become horrible in it just to survive as it's all about high turn over and razor thin margins - volume is king and suppliers must be screwed at every opportunity.

It's a shitty business but one with massive profits for some and minimum wage for most.

[jrandom]

The grocery trade is a viscious one...

'Viscious'.

I like that word.

It's sort of halfway between 'vicious' and 'viscous'; an implication of thick, sticky, and nasty. Very apropos.

[Brian d marge]

The thing that really bugs me , is What has been said before, market forces salaries paid to CEOs

I mean simply put if the company earns 10 dollars and you pay 2 dollars to the ceo ,,you have only 8 to pay everything else.

Doesn matter how its worded, wether they call it Shares , perks ....coffee

I am Sure that a off the floor 3 dollars an hour worker could do the Same job as the CEO , I mean the average mother with 2 kids does it every day ..and for a whole lot less!!!

Other than that, a company does need to make a profit , no profit , and you wont be in business for long , period . We all want something for nothing ,,,but its just not the case,

and ALL full time wages , must be of a level to provide the status quo ,,,ie mum dad and kids . ie a LOW wage economy is great for the books, and makes NZ look good ,,( so that overseas investors want to give us money aparently ??~)

But its crap to live in .... My salary /wage is on the low side of average ..but I can afford to do the thing I like ...( but then srfing the internet for P#rn is very expensive ..


Name and address withheld

[The_Dover]

Fucking overpaid useless cunts like Theresa Gattung deserve millions a year because of "market forces".

Fuck off, how hard is it to run a monopoly? How many major service providers in NZ are basically monopolies? Let's see, Telecunt, the supermarkets, the bus companies, railways and airlines, power companies may as well be, watercare.

There is no real competition in the marketplace so how the fuck can they fail other than thru sheer incompetence?

[TLDV8]

I Feel Sorry For Those Guys , Its Hard Yakka In Those Warehouses And They Do Get Paid Poorly

You forgot to mention how a lot make up for it in the form of what goes out the gate...The hard yakka it seems is loading the car...but you won't be hearing about the latest bust via the Media.

[Beemer]

In my first job I was getting (I had to work it out on my weekly wage - that I could remember as I thought it was heaps!) $2.70 an hour. Woo hoo!

I worked in a call centre a few years ago and got the princely sum of $11.00 an hour before tax, for a 40 hour week with regular shiftwork and you had to work every third Saturday. So it's not just the ones who work in supermarkets who get poorly paid. At least (by the sound of it) they get a discount, however small, on their purchases - at the power company we got nothing.

I'm self-employed now so can't moan about my hourly rate because I set it most times, but if I don't work, I don't get paid.

[Ixion]

Overpaid young whippersnapper.

My first job (not full time thank heavens) was paid at 2/6d per hour. that's 25cents per hour, £5/0/0 per week ($10 for you young 'uns) . Slave labout, that's what it was.

Just for comparison, petrol was 3/4d per gallon , so I had to work 1.33 hours (pre tax) to buy a gallon (4.5 litres)

Now petrol is $1.61 per litre = $7.25 per gallon. So 1.33 hours to pay for the gallon would equate to a wage of $5.45 an hour. Pre tax.

So maybe you aren't so hard done by nowdays after all , eh?

[Drunken Monkey]

... I am Sure that a off the floor 3 dollars an hour worker could do the Same job as the CEO , ...

Yeah, that's right. Everyone is CEO material. Whether they're artistic, technical, a ball-buster, a softy, whether they can view a business holistically or not, whatever. The world is wrong, skills don't count for anything. In fact fuckit, why don't we just total up ALL the GP earned by everyone, whether they're an incompetant twerp, a highly motivated hard worker or whatever, then divide it equally amongst all citizens. I mean, c'mon, no-one actually deserves more money than the next guy! You know, that'll be great... (where are those sarcastic html tags when you want them?)

[Lou Girardin]

Yeah, that's right. Everyone is CEO material. Whether they're artistic, technical, a ball-buster, a softy, whether they can view a business holistically or not, whatever. The world is wrong, skills don't count for anything. In fact fuckit, why don't we just total up ALL the GP earned by everyone, whether they're an incompetant twerp, a highly motivated hard worker or whatever, then divide it equally amongst all citizens. I mean, c'mon, no-one actually deserves more money than the next guy! You know, that'll be great... (where are those sarcastic html tags when you want them?)

Two words to demolish your entire point - Theresa Gattung.

[Hitcher]

Reminds me a bit of Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch...

[Drunken Monkey]

Two words to demolish your entire point - Theresa Gattung.

On the contrary, I think that's precisely what happens when you put a $3/hr worker in that kind of position. Management is a difficult job, even experienced managers don't necessarily do good jobs. This is not the same as saying some random git will do better - I think you'll find most will be in over their heads.

[WINJA]

You forgot to mention how a lot make up for it in the form of what goes out the gate...The hard yakka it seems is loading the car...but you won't be hearing about the latest bust via the Media.

I WORKED AT FAVONA ROAD AS A CONTRACTOR , YOUVE GOT TO BE FUCKEN KIDDING , CARS ARE SEARCHED AND IF YOU GET CAUGHT THEY WILL CALL THE POLICE , IN THE 3 YEARS I WORKED ON THEIR BUILDINGS THEFT OF PRODUCT WAS NOT A PROBLEM, TLDV8 YOUR STATEMENT IS CLEARLY BASED ON IGNORANCE

[jrandom]

Management is a difficult job...

Oh, arr, for sure.

Your average chap or chapette, even if experienced, qualified and not at all lazy or stupid, will simply not take the conceptual leap of arriving at work each day and viewing their responsibility as delivering profit to shareholders. Which is not as easy as it sounds, most of the time.

They see their responsibility, simply, as doing whatever they're told to. The vast majority of human beans appear to prefer thinking that way.

Successfully understanding and directing the operation of a bunch of people and resources, as a whole, with the overall goal of growing, thriving and pulling cash out of the rest of the economy for the operation's own benefit, requires a certain mindset, and a certain sort of viciously (viscously?) predatory intelligence, combined with a keen understanding of what's going on in the heads of everyone around you, the state of which heads are (usually) indispensable to whatever has to happen in service of said overall goal.

Jeez, what an unwieldy sentence that was.

Anyway, point is, most people can't 'manage' for shit; it takes rare ability and dedication to keep a team of other people happy and provide them with a common focus and the tools they need to achieve common goals. That ability, concentrated in a single intellect, is the linchpin upon which every successful enterprise turns.

And that is why CEO positions are paid what they're paid.

[SPman]

Your average chap or chapette, even if experienced, qualified and not at all lazy or stupid, will simply not take the conceptual leap.....................e their responsibility, simply, as doing whatever they're told to. The vast majority of human beans appear to prefer thinking that way.

I just come to work to use the broadband connection.........

[WINJA]

Thank you for your email, and we are disappointed you feel they way you
do
regarding our position in respect the current strike action from
members of
union's involved in our 3 grocery distribution centres.

I would however like to briefly outline the reasons for our actions to
date,
so at the very least you are aware of issues involved.

Firstly the unions are demanding what is in an effect a 30 percent
employment cost increase to Progressive, and that is a fact.

No business including ours can meet what we regard as such an
unreasonable
and unrealistic union demand. To do so would result in higher food
prices in
the supermarket and threaten the livelihoods of all our staff, our
suppliers
and our very business.

At Progressive, we remain committed to delivering the lowest prices
possible. This means we pay particular attention to ALL costs within
our
business to ensure we remain competitive.

It is also important to remember that essentially our 18,000-plus
staff, 2.5
million shoppers per week and our suppliers are being held hostage by
the
striking union members who represent less than three per cent of our
workforce.

Despite this action our supermarkets remain open and we will endeavor
to
provide the very best service we can.

I hope you understand that we take these actions with the best
interests in
mind of our customers, staff and the business.

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THE ABOVE WAS PROGRESIVES RESPONSE TO THE EMAIL I SENT THEM , I SORTA SEE THEIR SIDE BUT I KNOW THEY HAVE A VERY BIG PROPAGANDA MACHINE THAT TALKS A LOT OF SHIT, GOOD ON THEM THO FOR AT LEAST REPLYING TO MY EMAIL