DRIVERS for Qube Logistics in Western Australia and Victoria have planned to strike for 24 hours this week, risking major supply shortages for popular drinks ahead of the Australia Day long weekend.
These workers transport key inputs used in the production of Coca-Cola, Asahi beer, Mondelēz chocolates and plastic products.
Drivers will strike on 21 January from 5am AWST in WA and 5am AEST in Victoria.
Transport Workers Union Victoria/Tasmania director of organising Sam Lynch said workers' wages are falling behind.
“Qube, who have recorded year-on-year profit increases, need to come back to the negotiation table and get serious,” Mr Lynch said.
In a statement from the TWU, up to 100% of workers voted in favour of protected industrial action in early January.
Disruption to supply chains is expected if Qube continues to refuse drivers’ demands on wages, conditions, and a consolidated agreement that aligns WA drivers with their Victorian counterparts.
“This dispute is not about handouts or luxuries,” the statement said.
“It is about a fair national agreement that delivers decent pay and safe working conditions in line with industry expectations.”
According to the statement, some drivers participating in the strike have not seen a fair wage increase since 2022.
“If current trends continue, operators who pay properly and invest in safety will be driven out of business, while companies winning tenders will do so by cutting wages, undermining job security and putting lives at risk,” the statement said.
TWU WA state secretary Tim Dawson said consolidating the Qube agreement nationally is a critical part of the union’s 2026 plan to lift standards across the industry.
“Transport is already Australia’s deadliest industry. Fragmented agreements and cost-cutting only make it worse,” Mr Dawson said.
“The TWU has a plan for 2026. Consolidating agreements like Qube’s across states is how we stop the race to the bottom and protect safe, sustainable jobs.”
A Qube spokesperson said the planned industrial action was “disappointing”.
“The truth is the TWU rejected a wage offer that would have seen workers covered by agreements in Victoria and WA achieve a wage increase of more than 12% over the next three years, and then they walked away from the negotiating table,” the spokesperson said.
“We urge the union to urgently resume negotiations so that we can resolve this dispute in the best interests of workers.”
Qube has made alternative supply arrangements should the action proceed, and expected “zero impact” to customers and supply chains.
In 2026, more than 200 transport enterprise agreements will align to the same expiry date, which gives workers the power to hold major operators and supply chains accountable for their standards.