Workers fighting Woolworths for better pay and conditions hope they can end their dispute before Christmas as supermarket shelves start to empty.

United Workers Union members are striking at the retail giant’s distribution centre in suburban Melbourne after it announced plans to reopen.

The strike action has left supermarket shelves across Victoria bare as workers block access to and from the Dandenong South distribution centre. 

The site is one of several across eastern Australia subject to industrial action since November 21.

Woolworths announced plans to reopen the Melbourne site on Sunday with other workers from the centre to be brought in.

However the striking group on Monday blockaded the site, turning away a logistics truck and blocking all entrances to the distribution centre with cars. 

Talks between the company and the union resumed on Monday.

The disruption has caused supermarket shelves across Melbourne to be left bare, with scenes reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

One store, on Collingwood’s Smith Street, had most of its toilet paper aisle empty along with large portions of its bread and fridge sections. 

In late-November, Woolworths insisted all stores were still receiving regular stock deliveries, but some were getting their goods less frequently than previously scheduled.

The action is limiting the availability of items such as nappies, toilet paper and drinks for customers across Woolworth’s Victorian supermarkets.

No product limits are in place apart from eggs, which have been rationed for months following bird flu outbreaks in NSW and Victoria.

United Workers Union National secretary Tim Kennedy said despite “aggressive US-style industrial relations tactics” it seemed that after 12 days of negotiations Woolworths was showing signs of understanding their workers’ claims. 

“Today’s negotiations show Woolworths the way they should be resolving this issue – by talking with and listening to their workers,” Mr Kennedy said late on Monday afternoon. 

“We are hopeful of a breakthrough because our workers deserve to be safe at work.”

Union delegates at the scene told AAP the workers were protesting against unrealistic performance expectations, which they claim have led to frequent injuries.

The expectations allocate workers a certain time for a task, then ranks their performance out of 100, which they say puts undue pressure on them and has a negative impact on wellbeing.

They are demanding better wages and an agreement workers at different sites are paid the same amount.

The delegates claimed Woolworths would close higher-paid warehouses and open smaller ones and offer less pay.

One union delegate said workers would continue their around-the-clock protest for as long as it took to reach a resolution, with hopes it would happen before Christmas.

He said those on strike weren’t confident, claiming the supermarket giant had planned to bus in workers to the Dandenong South distribution centre on Monday.

“I’ve told my kids that Santa Claus is on strike,” the delegate said.

This post was originally published on Michael West.