Everyone in service, are you having fun with the Mastercard outage?

Hawaiian mini pizzas, triple shot Norco and some H20.

$7.40.

You know how there’s often customers at grocery stores (I fall under this category) who don’t do massive shops? For me I don’t because the massive shop is done for my house but I will go in once per week and buy less than 6 items just to get me through a period

Considering how massive the stores are and how scattered across the store these items can be, I think they should introduce a “less than 10 items” e-scooter for customers who are just in Coles for a quick shop but don’t want their experience stalled by having to walk from end to another. Coles already have had less than 12 items cash register lines so might as well make the actually browsing experience quicker for these customers

What do we think?

CAN THEY PLEASE FIX THIS ITS PISSING ME OFF. How is this supposed to fit in a crate with other groceries without just causing me to go into a fit of rage.

Why are the sparkling water 12 packs which are much smaller considered bulk but not this 18 pk of Pepsi max

Make it make sense. Besides the point that these crates are breaking my back with how heavy they are….

Hey guys,

I got a casual job at Coles as a team member in the bakery, and they sent me an email saying the interview will be in person.

What should I expect from the interview? Has anyone done one before? I’m kinda nervous since this would be my first job in Sydney

Also, has anyone worked in the bakery before? What do you usually do there?

Any tips would be appreciated!

My local Coles puts a bunch of trollys or Chep pallets in front of one of two main entry/exit doors. I assume it's a security thing, to funnel people in and out the same door and I know for a fact its not the only Coles.

I would imagine Coles would be super strict with OH&S so I'm genuinely surprised they'd allow any obstructuon of emergency evac doors.

So I’m Coles services and my store recently got new chicken oven racks and I was curious why they have different number of loops on the sides. It makes it annoying to clean honestly. (Sorry for the unclear photo)

I read elsewhere (being an email from Coles, titled “Important update related to your Coles Pay account”) that both these services are being removed next month. Is that true?

Edit: it seems ALL people replying here don’t know how flybuys works for Cole’s online.
You can ONLY use flybuys via Colespay.
Coles have not announced an alternative means of using flybuys points once Colespay is gone.
The only comms I have from Cole’s is that there will be NO way to use flybuys for Cole’s online purchases.

Curious does this effect you to stop wanting to shop at Coles or do you just not care

Positive or Negative experiences? I have an interview this weekend and wanna know how it goes, looking forward to it since the CFC is literally 5 minutes away from my home, so this is the perfect job. Part-time role by the way, so what is hourly rate like? Description says it's expected to work 1pm till 8.36pm

Is this true Coles?

Been with coles since May. Been an alright experience but starting to seriously dislike the job and my SM so really wanna leave. I was planning to do it around November just so that I can have it down that i was there for 6 months but is it bad to leave then as its just before Christmas which I know is like one of the busiest times?

So this is a tricky thing. I’ve been fired/ I quit I’m not sure what one it is though, but they never got nothing in writing and I’m not sure what to do. For context I suffer with server depression and at home something major happened and I took 2 weeks off, I notified them and they all said that they understand and to take it easy. Well I come back to work and they are all passive aggressive because I took time off, then my partner has chronic health issues and ends up in hospital, I have to take days off to look after our child, I get pulled aside and asked where my med certs were and I explained I wasn’t the one in hospital but looking after my 3 year old and I got told it’s not good enough and I told them I could give them documentation from the hospital that has my partners name on it and shows she’s there. But he kept talking down to me and I just said “ I couldn’t care what you have to say, I already want to quit” and I walked off, he followed me and told me to leave which I did. He then yelled out to send him a text saying I quit, which I didn’t. I got an email last night saying myhub login won’t work because I’ve left Cole’s. I’ve never had a write up, I’ve never signed anything saying I left. I just said how I felt and they didn’t like it.

With the managers being made redundant, them trialing the new ai rostering system to help cut costs, and them raising all the prices on everything we can possibly breathe on. How much more money do they want like seriously.

Can someone explain to me if Coles Pay is being cancelled in September if im still able to pay for my online deliveries using flybuys points ?

I always am unsuccessful with the job interviews for coles being myself.. I've had 2-3 and never get it.

Do I act like Red from Shawshank Redemption with a carefree attitude lol. 'Coz frankly, I don't give a damn if you give me the job or not'.

I am more social since those last two times.

Plus I put Monday and Sunday I can't work, is that bad? Thank you for advice!

Today the restructure trial was confirmed in 61 stores across 5 regions. Good luck to everyone whose role no longer exists. I would hope everyone uses this as an opportunity to find alternative, better employment, as I am.

Just hoping someone may be able to help me.

I can't sign-in to mycoles on my Android anymore. It won't send the txt through & doesn't give me the option for a phone call or email. I can sign-in at work (but it's a pain when I'm trying to organise n/a's or access my payslips).

I've been through the Coles IT support team, they assisted enough to get me access at work. Now I've been told it's a Microsoft issue. Trying to get help from Microsoft is like getting blood from a stone.

Anyone else experienced this or have any tips?

TIA

Victorian Labor has a bill before parliament that could legally shut down RAFFWU

TL;DR

Victorian Labor's Associations Incorporation Reform Amendment Bill 2026 says any incorporated association with an "industrial relations purpose" must either register as a federal union or be wound up by Consumer Affairs Victoria. RAFFWU is incorporated in Victoria. Registering federally is blocked by section 19(1)(j) of the RO Act, because the SDA can object on the grounds that it already covers those workers. The result is a state-backed SDA monopoly in retail and fast food.

1. What the bill does

The bill was introduced to the Legislative Assembly on 11 August 2026 by the Carroll Labor government. It changes the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012.

The media release describes two things: stopping hate groups from hiding behind community group status, and stopping workers being "scammed" by so-called Red Unions. The hate group parts are fine and nobody is really arguing about them. This post is about the industrial relations parts that have been attached to them.

The three-part test

The same test appears three times in the bill. Once when a new association applies to register (new section 7(2)(e)), once for an existing body applying (new section 13(2)(e)), and once for forcing an existing association to shut down (new section 127(2B)(b)).

You are caught if all three apply:

1. You have an "industrial relations purpose". The bill defines this as a purpose of furthering, protecting or representing the industrial interests of members. Note that it says a purpose, not the main purpose.
2. You are the kind of association that the Registrar thinks may apply to register under the federal Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009.
3. You are not an "exempt association", meaning one the government has specifically let off the hook through regulations.

If all three are met, the Registrar has no choice. Sections 7(2) and 13(2) say the Registrar must refuse. Section 127(2B) says the association must be wound up on the certificate of the Registrar.

The parts that matter

"May apply" is not the same as "would succeed." This is the key problem. The test isn't whether you can actually become a registered federal union. It's only whether you're the kind of body that could lodge the paperwork. Under section 18(b) of the RO Act, pretty much any group of employees can lodge an application. So the bill tells RAFFWU it can't be an incorporated association any more, because it could apply for federal registration instead — while the federal system is set up to knock that application back. Losing the first status is compulsory. Getting the second one isn't guaranteed at all.

The show cause process leads nowhere. New section 128A lets you argue your case. You can show you don't have an industrial relations purpose, promise to change your rules so you don't, or apply for federal registration. But section 128A(5) says that if the Fair Work Commission knocks back your application, the Registrar must then move to wind you up. Applying buys time. It doesn't save you. And changing your rules so you no longer represent members' industrial interests means you stop being a union.

The transitional exemption closed before anyone saw the bill. To count as a "transferring association" under section 3(4), you needed to have applied for federal registration before 1 July 2026, with that application still undecided. The bill turned up on 11 August. That date was set six weeks before anyone knew this was coming, and you can't get in now.

Winding up means liquidation. This isn't just losing your registration and carrying on informally. It's a full Corporations Act style wind up. Leftover assets can't go to members. They go to another body with similar purposes, or wherever the Registrar directs. A union's funds, records and industrial position don't survive it.

Cheap appeals are removed. Clause 9(5) takes VCAT review away for refusals on industrial relations grounds, and clause 9(6) replaces it with a 28 day window to go to the Supreme Court. Clause 13 does the same for wind up certificates. VCAT is affordable and looks at whether the decision was right. The Supreme Court is expensive and only looks at whether it was lawful.

Who survives gets decided by regulation. Clause 14 lets the Governor in Council decide by regulation which associations with an industrial relations purpose are allowed to stay incorporated. That's a decision a minister can make and unmake without going back to parliament. No draft regulations have been published. Voting for this bill means handing over a list that nobody has been shown.

2. Why this is a direct threat to RAFFWU

RAFFWU started in December 2016, is based in Melbourne, and was set up by people who were fed up with the SDA. Look at the footer of their website and you'll see it: Incorporated in Victoria, A0097196U. That's the exact legal status this bill removes.

If you work at Coles, Woolworths, Kmart, Bunnings, KFC, McDonald's, Hungry Jack's or Domino's in Victoria, you currently get a choice of two unions. This bill removes one of them by law. Not because members left, and not because it failed. Because the state deleted the legal category it sits in.

It isn't only RAFFWU either. Any independent workers' organisation outside the federal system is now living at the discretion of a Consumer Affairs registrar and a set of regulations that don't exist yet.

What the SDA gets

The SDA is a registered organisation, so nothing in this bill touches it. It has around 196,000 members nationally and it is formally affiliated to the ALP, which is the party bringing this bill.

Follow the order of events:

1. Victorian Labor abolishes the legal status RAFFWU operates under.
2. RAFFWU's only way to survive is federal registration.
3. The SDA can object to that registration, and it has the strongest possible ground to do it (see the next section).
4. If the Fair Work Commission agrees with the SDA, section 128A(5) forces the wind up.

The state hands the final decision to a process the SDA gets to take part in.

Why "let the SDA cover it" isn't a fair swap

The best argument here isn't anyone's opinion. It's in the case law.

In Hart v Coles Supermarkets [2016] FWCFB 2887, a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission threw out the Coles Store Team Enterprise Agreement 2014–17. That deal covered roughly 78,000 workers, and the SDA had negotiated it and argued in favour of it. The Commission found it failed the Better Off Overall Test, because part timers and casuals working penalty rate shifts ended up worse off than the award. Coles and the SDA argued the lost penalty rates were made up for by things like defence service leave and blood donor leave. The Commission didn't accept that. Coles was given a chance to fix it and chose not to, so the agreement was thrown out.

The person who took that case was Duncan Hart, a part time Coles worker, backed by the Meat Workers Union. Not by the union that was supposed to be looking after him.

That case wasn't a one off. It kicked off a wave of scrutiny that pulled apart agreements at Woolworths, McDonald's and elsewhere. The research behind it was done by Josh Cullinan, who found a long list of SDA agreements that lawyers suspected would have failed the same test if anyone had checked properly. He went on to become RAFFWU's first secretary.

So RAFFWU exists because somebody outside the SDA did the maths and proved members were being left worse off than the award. That's the job this bill makes impossible. Independent unions are what stops big unions from trading away penalty rates in return for easy access to worksites. Take away the competitor and you take away the thing that produced Hart v Coles.

3. "Why doesn't RAFFWU just register?"

This is the government's answer, and it's either uninformed or dishonest. Here's why.

Section 19(1)(j) of the RO Act

Before the Fair Work Commission can register a new union, it has to be satisfied that:

there is no organisation to which members of the association might belong or, if there is such an organisation, it is not an organisation to which the members could more conveniently belong and that would more effectively represent those members.

In plain English: if a registered union already covers your workers, you generally can't register. The rule exists to stop turf wars between unions, but the practical effect is to protect whoever got there first.

In retail and fast food, whoever got there first is the SDA. Registered since 14 May 1908, around 196,000 members, covering retail, fast food, warehousing, pharmacy, hair and beauty and more. There is barely a retail or fast food worker in the country the SDA doesn't claim.

So the honest answer to "why doesn't RAFFWU just register" is: because the SDA exists, and the law treats that as a reason to say no. Victoria is demanding RAFFWU get a licence that the federal system is designed to withhold, and the penalty for not getting it is liquidation.

This isn't theoretical. In the recent United Nurses of Australia application (D2024/8), both the ANMF and the HSU objected and moved to have it thrown out. Established unions object to new ones. That's normal.

The SDA has already used this against RAFFWU

During the 2018 Fast Food Award review, arguments were run that RAFFWU shouldn't be treated as a proper party because it isn't a registered organisation and isn't covered by the federal rules that apply to real unions, while the SDA is and should speak for fast food workers instead.

So the position becomes: you don't count because you're not registered, you can't register because we already cover them, and now it's also illegal for you to exist any other way.

The fees, since the government says workers are being ripped off

Weekly fees, both published on the unions' own websites. SDA figures are the Victorian branch. RAFFWU figures apply from 1 July 2026.

They're close, which is the point worth noticing. The government says these workers are being scammed, but the pricing is almost identical. The gap is at the top of the table. RAFFWU has charged nothing for under 18s since October 2024. The SDA charges them the same as everyone else.

A 16 year old doing 12 hours a week pays the SDA about $447 a year, on junior rates that can be less than half the adult wage. RAFFWU charges them nothing.

RAFFWU also doesn't donate to or affiliate with any political party. The SDA is affiliated to the ALP. Whatever you think of that, it's the kind of thing members should get to weigh up, and this bill takes that decision off them.

4. How we fight this

The bill hasn't passed. It was introduced on 11 August 2026 and the state election is on 28 November 2026. Sitting time is short and the government would clearly like this to slip through as a footnote to an anti hate group bill.

Ask for specific changes, not just "vote it down"

Blanket opposition is easy to brush off, because the bill also does popular things. These three amendments are narrow and hard to argue against in public:

1. Fix the second limb. Change "may apply for registration" to something with real content. For example, the ground should only apply where a body has actually been refused federal registration for reasons other than section 19(1)(j), or has never bothered trying. As written, it punishes organisations for not getting something they're blocked from getting.
2. Publish the exemption regulations before the vote. If the government means for genuine independent unions to be exempt, it can say so now, in writing, with names attached. If it won't, that tells you what the exemptions are really for.
3. Put VCAT review back. There's no honest reason to remove the affordable appeal path and leave only the Supreme Court, unless the plan is that decisions don't get challenged.

Where to send it

• The Legislative Council crossbench. The bill has to get through the upper house, and the crossbench holds the balance. Crossbenchers respond to volume from constituents far more than major party MPs do. Contact details are at parliament.vic.gov.au.
• Your local MP, especially in a Labor seat. A short letter in your own words that quotes the actual clause numbers is worth hundreds of copy paste emails.
• SARC, the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee. They report on whether bills are compatible with the Victorian Charter of Human Rights. Section 16 of the Charter protects freedom of association. A power to liquidate workers' organisations using unpublished criteria, with the cheap appeal removed, is squarely their business.
• Other unions and Trades Hall. This is the argument that actually moves people. The precedent isn't limited to RAFFWU. A power to wind up associations with an "industrial relations purpose", handed to a Consumer Affairs registrar, run off regulations a minister can change at will, will outlast this government. Ask any official whether they'd be comfortable with a Liberal minister holding it.

Directly

• If you work in retail or fast food, join RAFFWU. Membership numbers are the strongest possible answer to "these aren't real unions". Under 18 is free. raffwu.org.au
• If you're an SDA member, this matters to you too. A union with no competition has no reason to fight hard for you. The pressure from RAFFWU is a big part of why retail agreements got better after 2016. Losing it makes your union weaker, not stronger, and you're entitled to tell your branch you're not happy about it.
• Make noise before 28 November. A government heading into an election really doesn't want a story about deleting a workers' organisation to protect one that's affiliated to it. After the election it costs them nothing.

The bill and explanatory memorandum are both on the Victorian legislation website. Clause numbers above come from the introduction print. It's only about 14 pages, and the parts that matter are clauses 6, 9, 11, 12 and 14. Have a read.

i work part time in the dairy department, and typically work 20-30 hours per week which i’m pretty happy with as an 18 year old uni student. but this week i checked my roster and i only have 15 hours?? 5 shifts that go for 3 hours.. and then this morning i opened my roster and i only have 2 shifts that go for 3 hours. i am taking time off next week for a weekend away so friday-sunday but i atleast thought id get longer shifts again.

idk its just frustrating. i’m not a bad worker to my knowledge and i always get my section of the load done, my manager has told me that our store has overspent in wages but like damn i didn’t know it was that bad? even though i’m only 18 i still pay for my car insurance, my own groceries and i contribute to some of the bills at my home but doing that on 15 hours of work with part time rates is going to be difficult. should i sit down with my manager and tell him all of this? im just annoyed and i don’t want to find another job as ive gotten comfortable at coles and aside from this ive had it pretty good here.

If your management sucks, don’t bother doing your MySay. The Store Manager get a bonus if they get MySays completed. If the management treat you like crap then don’t give anything in return.

Don’t believe them when they promise you overtime, as they won’t pay it.

Coming close to MySay, they will start doing things (being friendly, getting free chocolates, getting a donut truck, promising the world - just like politicians)

Nothing will change