Chemist Warehouse workers win big   
December 3, 2025 ACTU.
A major ruling by the Fair Work Commission has paved the way for better pay and conditions for 300 workers employed across Chemist Warehouse’s 13 stores in South Australia.

For the first time in Australia, the Fair Work Commission today ordered Chemist Warehouse to negotiate a multi-employer agreement with its workforce, the first employer in the retail pharmacy sector to face a union collective agreement.   

The ruling follows a successful test case by the South Australian branch of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), which demonstrated majority support for a collective agreement among 300 workers, employed by six franchises, operating 13 stores.

Unions campaigned and won multi-employer bargaining rights in 2022 following the Albanese Government’s passage of the Secure Jobs Better Pay laws. Multi-employer bargaining brought outdated bargaining laws in line with the realities of modern workplaces, which previously restricted workers’ ability to negotiate pay and conditions across multiple franchises.

The union applied for the laws’ single-interest bargaining stream, which requires majority support and automatically recognises that employers have a common interest if they are franchisees.

Chemist Warehouse strongly opposed the SDA’s application, seeking to continue its current arrangement of paying its largely insecure workforce only the award minimum.

The company argued that SDA organisers had not properly explained to young workers what they were being asked to support.

Fair Work Commission Deputy President, Peter Hampton rejected Chemist Warehouse’s arguments, stating that there had been no material misrepresentations in garnering support for the proposal.

Under the Fair Work Commission order, Chemist Warehouse must now engage in good faith bargaining with its workers and their union – the SDA – or risk arbitration if negotiations stall.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary, Liam O’Brien:

“Chemist Warehouse’s billionaire owners fought hard to keep their workers locked out of collective agreements.

“Thanks to the Albanese Government’s multi-employer bargaining laws, Chemist Warehouse workers can now come together to negotiate better pay and conditions.

“This is a significant win for the union movement and a first for retail pharmacy workers in Australia.

“For too long, employers like Chemist Warehouse have used their franchise structure to keep their employees stuck on bare minimum pay rates.

“Retail pharmacists are among the lowest paid workers in the sector and are often younger women.

“The Fair Work Commission’s ruling makes it clear that Chemist Warehouse must come to the negotiating table and stop trying to hide behind their franchising model to avoid paying proper wages.”

I like Chemist Warehouse -
the prices for scripts are much lower than regular chemists.
I didn't know they were paying such lousy wages to their workers.

I suppose that's all you get in retail? - it was always a bad industry to be employed in.
Being on your feet all day causes terrible foot ache.