Over the last decade, logistics workers in Melbourne’s north and west have bucked national trends toward low industrial militancy. Workers at warehouses servicing some of Australia’s largest retailers — Coles, Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s, BWS, and Chemist Warehouse, to name a few — have organized and struck time and again.

When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, retail demand surged as people stocked up on groceries or set themselves up to work from home. Warehouse workers stepped up to the challenge — without them, shelves would have emptied in days. As shops closed, online shopping took off, placing logistics networks under further strain. There is no doubt that warehouse workers are essential. Yet they have not been treated with the respect they deserve.

Since June, it has become clear that the majority of Victoria’s second coronavirus wave has been transmitted at work. Employing hundreds of workers, often across overlapping shifts, warehouses are especially vulnerable. In fact, next to aged-care facilities and slaughterhouses, warehouses have been hit the hardest.