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Woolworths and Coles workers are preparing for their first-ever nationwide strike tomorrow, with stores in nearly all major capital cities set to be impacted.
Members of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) will stop work from 10am on Saturday for two hours over work and pay conditions.
As part of the industrial action, partial work bans will come into effect at Coles tomorrow while bans at Woolworths have been in place for over a week.
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Tasks impacted by the bans include a refusal to crush cardboard boxes, clean toilets, pack online orders and clear loose stock left on the floor or registers.
Industrial action has already kicked off at Coles in Broken Hill, according to the union's social media with staff claiming they will not be paid for participating in the bans.
RAFFWU federal secretary Josh Cullinan said members were fighting for an hourly base rate of $29, workplace measures to counter retail abuse and secure jobs for casual workers.
"Workers are paid a few cents more than the minimum wage," he told 9news.com.au.
"They just want a living wage to deal with the rising cost of living, they can't even afford the groceries they're selling."
"We want to see each time a worker is assaulted or abused to be treated like a crime.
"The level of abuse, threats intimidation and assaults is unprecedented and outrageous and the employers are not lifting a finger to stop it.
"We also want to see casual workers getting ongoing jobs.
"They just want to be able to have more hours in their contract to rely on and mega companies making mega profits should be able to provide that."
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Woolworths said the action will have minimal impact on store operations with about 300 of its 130,000 employees expected to strike.
"Only individuals who have appointed RAFFWU as their bargaining representative are able to participate in the proposed industrial action," a Woolworths spokesperson told 9news.com.au.
"We have been in regular contact with RAFFWU bargaining representatives and an initial bargaining meeting has already occurred.
"We have a long history of bargaining in good faith with our team and will continue to do so.
"However, we acknowledge and respect the right of team members to take protected industrial action."
A Coles spokesperson said the company was "working collaboratively with our team members and bargaining representatives on a proposal for a new Supermarket Enterprise Agreement".
"Coles is committed to delivering an outcome that balances the needs of our team members, the sustainability of our business and ensures we can continue to deliver great value and experiences for our customers," the spokesperson said.
According to the supermarket giant, about 450 Coles workers are registered with the RAFFWU and a majority of stores have less than five members each.
Both Coles and Woolworths passed on a 5.75 per cent wage increase to employees in July after the Fair Work Commission's decision to increase minimum wage.
Members of the RAFFWU have been ordered to meet to take industrial action at the following sites:
Victoria
Melbourne – Coles Spencer Street (near Southern Cross Station)
Gippsland – Coles Traralgon Central
NSW
Sydney – Belmore Park, Eddy Ave entrance, Haymarket (near Central Station)
Broken Hill – Woolworths Broken Hill
Queensland
Brisbane – outside Myer Centre McDonald's at the corner of Elizabeth and Albert streets
Northern Brisbane – Woolworths Narangba
Charters Towers – Woolworths Charters Towers
Gladstone – Coles Gladstone
Western Australia
Perth – Coles Byford
Australian Capital Territory
Canberra – Coles Tuggeranong
South Australia
Adelaide – Woolworths Aberfoyle Park
No industrial action has been announced for supermarkets in Tasmania.
