battle wages on for distribution workers

It's been 11 days since industrial action between Progressive Enterprises their distribution workers started. 11 days without pay, 11 days with no end in sight.

And people are starting to notice their supermarket shelves are starting to empty, which is seeming to be a justifiable hassle rather than massive disruption. For now. It's likely that shoppers tensions will become higher as it becomes impossible to shop at Progs stores. Who shoppers blame in the long run will make or break the worker's demands for a national collective agreement, increased entitlements and an 8% pay rise.

Progressive for it's part is trying to focus attention on what it desribes as

unreasonable union demands [and remaining] committed to the lowest prices possible

in posters throughout the store. The NDU claims that Progs is leading a war of misinformation and acting illegally by replacing the function of their members by getting suppliers that usually deliver their goods via the DC to deliver direct into store. The union received a setback this afternoon, with Employment Court Judge Colgan ruling that PEL can continue with direct to store deliveries until a hearing next week. A press release from the worker's unions the NDU and EMPU this afternoon said:

"The judgment confirms the basic principle of the section that people can not be engaged to do the work of the locked out workers," [NDU National Secretary Laila Harre] said. "The Judge has acknowledged that evidence establishing who engaged who would be difficult for unions to gather in these circumstances. However he commented that with documentary disclosure before the trial the facts will be able to be established with a greater degree of certainty... This employer does not want to negotiate a solution, it wants to win. It wants to win by forcing these workers to accept its demands through the brutal economic weapon of the lockout. The company's Australasian owners are powerful and have shown that they are prepared to invest heavily to get their way. It's time for the rest of us to show that we support the right of low paid workers to bargain and we can do that by making sure their rent is paid and their families are fed."

The union will launch an 0900 number "0900 LOCK OUT" (0900 5625 688) tomorrow morning to enable members of the public to make donations.

It looks like both the union movement is digging it's heels in too. Tony Milne has claim's that Progressive is offering 3%, and a reduction in entitlements, which (as he points out) isn't really a pay rise at all. Worse still, the Manawatu Standard has report's of non union workers being offered a pay raise, while Progressive Enterprises Managing Director claiming on Checkpoint that at least 30 union members have quit the NDU and returned to work on individual contracts, with Harre disputing the figure - only 20 workers crossed the picket line in Palmerston North, returning to work because of financial hardship.

This report cites a Prog's insider in saying that sales were only down 5%, and stock levels down 6%. So I guess there's still plenty of stuff you don't want to buy there.

No Right Turn has ways to punish Prog's, and help the union workers (possibly made redundant by the 0900 number above)

Speaking of misinformation, just to make the whole thing even more confusing the New Zealand Herald is trying it's best to get things wrong. Today:

Foodstuffs managing director Tony McNeil said there had been a slight increase in custom at the group's supermarkets, which include New World and Foodtown.

and yesterday:

A shortage of Coca-Cola and other soft drinks

Even though Coca-Cola has always delivered their soft drinks directly into store. That one ain't the fault of the locked out workers.

cold times

Now that the temperatures have finally taken a tumble, retail sales should pick up for the last few weeks of May, reversing a somewhat disappointing third quarter for some retailers. Mothers day should have picked up extra winter sales, with those usually not shopping picking up items on impulse.

I've forgotten how intrusive Auckland's cold can be - and how suddenly it can arrive. The fan, to keep comfortable with the warm humid nights has been replaced with the dehumidifier to ease the cold humidity of Auckland's winter.

Rod Dean is stepping down as Telecom chairman. I'm sure somewhere out there there'll be good riddance calls, especially since his conspicuous absence in the first few days of the LLU leak. Well yes, it'll be good to see him step down after so long at the helm, but it will be up to Dean, along with CEO Teresa Gattung, to make sure that they handle what has been an awful PR time for Telecom to create a direction for the business that will work with the new and planned regulation. There are indications of this already, but putting together a committee to establish the possible need for thinking about something isn't the final call. At the very least, Telecom needs to stick to its decision of splitting its business into customer and business divisions (with hopefully splitting wholesale into a different business). Telecom's services are currently a minefield to operate, and you might as well give up if you're looking for information on telecom.co.nz or xtra.co.nz. They desperately need to integrate their customer information portals, their pricing schedules (inc features and benefits) and their online access to information. It's eternally frustrating to have to log in multiple times to access any details surrounding one account.

It's a split that will make things better for Telecom in the long run, and should save overheads to boot. They would definitely be better off having done this 5 years ago. Instead they have chosen to underinvest in their customer experience. It's little wonder they're getting the cold shoulder lately.

Smile: It's Wal-Mart

So USA giant retailer Wal-Mart is seeking to gain copyright control over the smiley face, claiming it's (over) use of the symbol in the American retail market since the 90's gives it trademark rights for the symbol in the retail scene. This has to be one of the worst PR gaffs a corporate can make, trying to appropriate a symbol that feels to many to be unpatentable. Slightly misrepresented in the above artice (and in the NZHerald - can't see a link in the online edition) is that they were forced into it. From the LA times

[Wal-Mart] didn't move to register the trademark until someone else threatened to do so first, [forcing] the world's largest retailer is fighting a French native who has earned millions in licensing fees on smiley's back since the early 1970s, when he began securing trademarks for the happy face around the world.

But in protecting it's branding, and in turn it's profits, Wal-Mart is showing itself to be comepletely out of touch with the real world. American's, not to mention nationals of other markets Wal-Mart is/will be operating in won't take kindly to the stealing of the symbol.

Briscoe group (Briscoes and Rebel Sport) posted good results for the lastest quater, citing less discounting as the key to its success. Interesting to note NZ's most notirous Hi-Lo discounter might be working towards an EDLP strategy.

liquor.shop.co.nz

The liquor market in NZ is hotting up with Progs, Foodies and the Warehouse set to shake up the scene over the next few months. The move by the big two supermarket isn't supprising given international licencing conditions have given their overseas counterparts plenty of profit in the sprit and RTD market.

But we're not going to see a pice war - not unless one of the big two flinches, despite The Mill's opening of Liquor.co stores. Partly because the supermarkets will ignore Liquor.co, and partly because Liquor's parallel import strategy will hamper direct comparative pricing, and keep the the budget brands (inc. The Warehouse) happy with their margins.

(Liquor.co isn't to be confused with liquor.com on Queen St, neither of which have an internet presence...)

Despite what the supermarkets would have you believe, compared to dry grocery lines, liquor has a good margin - and the high value, again compared to Weet-Bix and tinned peaches, high volume nature of the category will keep all the players interested in keeping prices stable.

It's bad enough to them that Kiwis buy well over half of all liquor when it's discounted, when margins are squeezed in favour of volume. They can't afford to push loss leaders year round against each other because neither Progs or Foodies will win. They really have only two options in the market: push smaller players out or let their competitors etch away at their market share. It's going to be a combination of both - probably consolidating into 4 or 5 players with very few independants stadning firm in small towns and licencing trust areas.

Which is why growing the category is the only option for them. Bring on sprits. Bring on the store within a store model. Yes, less players=evil in a lot of cases. But with licencing laws unlikely to relax in New Zealand in the next twenty years, large liquor retailers will continue to go out of their way to keep their licences clean from underage stings (v bad PR).

Big players are easy targets for instectors, they deliver results and publicity to the reality of underage alcohol purchases. Less players=easier targets=more vigilance.

This has got to be good for our binge drinking culture. Normalising the 18+ sale of hard sprits (and bringing it away from dodgy dealers) will create a more mature drinking culture in the country. Just look at how we looked at wine 20 years ago. I'd bet Chardonnay and Sauvignon weren't everyday words, let alone Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris.

Yes. It's all about the money. But if the police/district and national licencing authrotities hold their nerve (as they did with the Red Sheds) and keep on top of the big players, we could all be better off.

Who's got the biggest box?

Very big-box retail weekend. Saw Botany Downs, got scared. Left. Ventured, out of necessicity into The Warehouse, Farmers, Briscoes and Arbuckles, all in the quest for a blanket to enjoy long winters nights in front of TV. I didn't want a throw. I didn't want something that would grate against my skin. I most certainly didn't want everything in pastel or loafer-tan colours. Erugh.

I just wanted a bloody blanket.

To cap it all off, all the above source from the same suppliers. Same colours, same designs, just different packaging. All ugly ugly ugly. Looks like two suppliers dominate the NZ manchester scene. (In its defence, The Warehouse did have some nice throws, but lost points for pushing hideous snuggle sacks). It took the global giant, K-Mart (Categories managed out of Oz) to prodivde something unique and interesting in the NZ retail blanket scene. A different choice.

If you driven on the southern past Mt Wellington in the past year, you'll have seen the newest big box rising. Well, more a collection of them. Sylvia Park will be mamoth. Just huge. The fact it's opening in stages will give you that. The fact there will be three players desperate for your weekly grocery shop (Progs, Foodies and -if you havn't heard, where have you been - The Warehouse.

But if you're looking for hope to find something unique and interesting - like a blanket- you won't. It'll be the same thing, really. These blokes have signed up. So have these. A few new aussie retailers are all over it, including Howard's Storage World and Secrets, the diamond-in-a-lab company (also opening in Newmarket). And despite being a construction site still, the carparks are already: a. in the plural, b. large and c. full.

But look down the aisles at these stores. Match them up. Same old stuff. Foodtown will certainly have the best food offer, but it wont be different to Greenlane Foodtown. Dollars though volume. Foodstuffs teaming up with Metcash, Progressive's recent supplier stouch, twisting the arms of suppliers on both sides of the tasman, will mean less choice for the consumer. A jetset marketing adviser told The Sydney Morning Herald that

"My experience of this happening in the UK is there's very little manufacturers can do but roll over. It's standard operating procedure for retailers. The first thing they do is look at the price book of the company they've acquired and drive down prices. When Wal-Mart took over ASDA in the UK, the instructions were to do exactly that."

He went on to say,

"Sympathetic to the plight of small manufacturers" but they would disappear in the Woolworth's takeover of Progressive [and that]"Inevitably a lot of small manufacturers will fall by the wayside."

Much the same point, less callously told, from Rod Oram in the Sunday Star Times.

But, until we see what the lastest oversized ticky-tacky will bring, I now can enjoy those winter nights, in front of the box, warm and comfy with my blanket.