Woolworths is caught in the ultimate pincer movement. Pitchfork-wielding politicians are blaming it and its competitor Coles for fuelling inflation, suppliers and customers are fed up with prices, and the competition watchdog is accusing them of gilding the lily on discounts.

Unfortunately for Woolworths, workers at its distribution centres have joined the conga line of malcontents.

The workers, mainly from Victoria, have taken issue with the pay, worker health and safety on offer at the warehouses, in particular measures taken by Woolworths to monitor the speed of their work.

Woolworth workers form a picket line outside the Woolworths Melbourne South Regional Distribution Centre (MSRDC) in Dandenong South on Monday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

For consumers, this means some shelves at Woolies are either thinly stocked or empty – a situation that no doubt revives the ghosts of the COVID-induced toilet paper famine and the pasta paucity.

The industrial action has certainly galvanised the attention of consumers given we are only three weeks shy of........

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