Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has spoken out about the “simply unacceptable” abuse that Woolies staff have copped since it was revealed that the supermarket had dumped Australia Day merchandise from all stores.
The retail boss has spoken out for the first time since Woolworths announced its controversial move on January 10.
While taking responsibility for the decision to not sell Australia Day decorations, flags and accessories, Mr Banducci called on customers to treat Woolies workers with more respect, and refrain from aggressive and abusive behaviour in the lead up to Friday’s public holiday.
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“I feel the weight on myself is the impact that this is having on our team,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
“They are proud, hard-working Australians and for them to be seen as, you know, anti-Australian or woke is fundamentally unfair.
“Fair to address it to me but not to our team.
“Fifty percent increase in acts of aggression in our store and that’s simply unacceptable.
“Treat our team with the respect with which they treat you is my message to everyone who’s watching.”
Speaking on Sunrise on Wednesday morning, the Woolworths boss told host Nat Barr that the company had taken out full-page newspaper ad about the controversy in an effort to stop employees being harassed.
“I got a lot of feedback from our customers and team, and I got to read a lot of incident reports,” he said.
“There have been incidents in our stores where people have taken out their frustration with our team. People have been rude or in some case threatening to our team.
“Given all of that, I thought it was important to restate our position — clearly we had not stated it as clearly as we should have at the beginning (of this decision).”
However Mr Banducci denied the decision to dump the Australia Day merchandise had gone down badly.
“It has not gone down badly — it is a decision we made collectively as a team,” he said.
“But I do worry that people who feel frustrated — there is a risk of them taking out their frustrations inappropriately.”
In an interview on Sydney radio station 2GB on Wednesday morning, the Woolworths boss also apologised for how the retail giant communicated its Australia Day decision.
“I think it would be fair to say, based on the response, we could have done a better job of communicating our decision,” he said.
“I’m sorry for the angst that it’s caused. What we have noticed is an unacceptable level of aggression towards our team, and it’s unfair to take it out on them.”
