About 130 Woolworths New Zealand workers could lose their jobs under a proposal to move the company’s customer care operation to Australia.

Workers First said affected employees were called to a meeting at 1pm today and told consultation had begun on the proposed closure of the New Zealand Customer Care Centre.

The union said Woolworths expected the proposal to save $4.1 million by the 2029 financial year.

Affected employees have until September 15 to provide feedback.

Workers First Deputy Secretary Rudd Hughes accused Woolworths of treating its New Zealand workforce as expendable.

“They’re happy to earn big profits in our country and make Kiwis reliant on their supermarkets, but they are planning to throw away more than a hundred of our jobs to save a very small amount of money over the next three years.”

Hughes said union organisers reported that Woolworths representatives read from a script during the 20 minute meeting and did not answer questions.

Organisers said some employees returned to work in tears.

“Many of the Customer Care team are sole parents who work remotely and will not find redeployment or comparable employment in their regions. This proposal will be crushing to hear about today,” Hughes said.

The union warned moving the service to Australia could also affect customers seeking help from staff without local knowledge.

Woolworths recently reported $163 million in earnings before interest and tax for the year to June 2026, an increase of 8.8 percent from the previous year.

The proposal follows a recent restructure of Woolworths’ South Island butchery operations, which Workers First said resulted in about 40 jobs being lost.

Workers First said it had submitted feedback to Woolworths and would continue representing union members during the consultation process.

A Woolworths spokesperson told chrislynchmedia.com the proposal was designed to explore the use of Woolworths Group’s scale, systems and expertise to provide customer service for kiwi customers while supporting a simpler, more sustainable New Zealand business.

“We acknowledge proposals like this have an impact on our team and we don’t take that lightly. Right now our primary focus is on supporting those team members and ensuring customers are not impacted while we consider the proposal.

“Whilst no decisions have been made proposals like these help us to explore what is possible so we can invest in what matters most to our customers including continuing to invest and build on the 500 new retail roles introduced in F26, the proposed 500 new frontline roles forecast for F27 (net) plus our plans to open four new stores in the coming year.

“Our future demands a Woolies that is simpler and more competitive, with increasing investment in value and experiences for kiwi customers.

“We understand that this proposal, if implemented, represents a significant change for our team. We are deeply mindful of the personal impact this transition may have. We are committed to transparency with our team and will provide support with care and respect as we work through consultation.  We are also working one on one with each individual team member to get their feedback and are actively working on redeployment opportunities across the business.”