The Warehouse denies union claims distribution centre staff are defecating in aisles

Detailed summary

Hundreds of Warehouse distribution workers made their presence felt at passionate protests in Auckland and Christchurch on Thursday, expressing opposition to automation of their jobs and what they see as intrusive workplace monitoring practices.

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Hundreds of Warehouse distribution workers made their presence felt at passionate protests in Auckland and Christchurch on Thursday, expressing opposition to automation of their jobs and what they see as intrusive workplace monitoring practices.

Workers First Union claimed its members' bathroom breaks were being tracked by artificial intelligence, leading to instances of staff urinating and defecating in distribution aisles.

The Warehouse Group strongly denies the introduction of drones and a stock-picking robot is putting staff out of work, let alone allegations it is monitoring toilet visits, and that workers have defecated and urinated in the aisles as a result.

But workers RNZ spoke to say they feel they're being treated as second-best to robots and fear what the future holds.

"Do I look like a robot? No. I don't," said one worker, who's worked at the Wiri distribution centre for 23 years.

"We are here to protest about these things [because it should be a human doing] the job, not a robot job."

The woman, like many in the crowd of several hundred, is passionate, worried and angry at the rate and pace of change. She said she had already lost colleagues in an earlier round of cuts, including some who'd worked there for 30 years.

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