Sadie Simmonds, former health and safety representative at the Aldi in Keilor Downs, has been threatened with termination from her position. She was fired for an unspecified policy violation. Her dismissal follows a tragic series of events. In recent months, these events have raised significant alarm over the safety of supermarket workers, particularly in relation to required bag checks.
As an African-American youth full of aspiration at just 18 years old, Simmonds found himself in a terrifying situation after doing a bag check at work. One customer threw a heavy carton of milk directly at her head. Then, he forcefully pushed her, knocking the student hard enough to fall off and back from her seat. While this attack shook her, she has channeled that experience into fighting for a safer working and serving environment in the retail space.
Now 20 years old, Simmonds has brought her fight to a new level. She developed a trades hall safety survey and shared it with her coworkers. Her intention was to obtain proof that staff did not feel safe carrying out their responsibilities. She hopes to use this data to persuade Aldi to reconsider its required bag check policy. She’s convinced that the way the agency is doing things now places employees’ safety in jeopardy.
In her own words, Simmonds shared the gravity of the situation:
“I just wanted to draw attention to the issues retail workers face. We have been seeing heightened levels of aggression and violence in stores.”
In the wake of the attack, Simmonds wasted no time. He had to join the retail workers’ union, so he could help prevent other employees from hearing similar threats on the shop floor. She also warned that recent practices focus on stopping theft rather than protecting employees.
“By putting in place structures to limit stock loss from theft, supermarkets have been putting our members on the front line and that’s what’s causing a lot of this hostility,” said Mr. Cullinan, a union representative.
These mandatory bag checks have been suspected of making retail workers more vulnerable to violence. Simmonds stated,
“Bag checks are likely to lead to forms of violence.”
She further elaborated on the psychological toll this creates for employees:
“There was always this impending sense of doom that at any moment you could be attacked.”
Assault is now the leading cause of death in the retail industry. Simmonds spoke of one instance where he saw a co-worker need stitches after a violent encounter with a customer.
“I have seen a co-worker have to get stitches because he was so brutally bashed,” she recounted.
Josh Cullinan, a fellow member of the union, sounded alarm bells about the risks involved in these scenarios. He admitted that while violent incidents may be few and far between, the ever-present threat severely impacts workers’ mental health.
“Even if it’s one in a 100, they’ve got so many customers to serve they have to worry every single time they look in someone’s bag: what’s going to come next, is it going to be abuse, is it going to be harassment, is it going to be a punch?”
Simmonds is still optimistic that her case can lead to a shift in Aldi’s broader policies around employee safety. She believes that no worker should have to fear for their safety while performing their duties and wants to create an environment where retail employees feel supported rather than threatened.
“I want retail workers to know they’re not alone in this … They don’t actually deserve to be treated like this and legally they should not be treated like this,” she asserted.
Her dismissal has garnered headlines for the details of her personal story. For one, it highlights the need for fundamental reforms of workplace safety standards in the retail sector.
He made clear that the urgency of climate change demands that we get to work. We need to impose significant penalties on those who injure or attack retail employees.
“We need to send a very clear message to the community and reflect the community’s expectations that young people and all people who work in our retail sector are safe.”
A spokesperson for Aldi commented on Simmonds’ situation but declined to provide specifics due to ongoing legal proceedings:
A spokesperson for Aldi commented on Simmonds’ situation but declined to provide specifics due to ongoing legal proceedings:
“This matter is currently going through legal proceedings so we cannot comment on the specifics of it.”
