Coverage of rats running rampant at the supermarket has led to its closure and a Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation.
The Countdown at 323 Andersons Bay Rd, in South Dunedin, has been closed since last Friday as it deals with the problem.
The Otago Daily Times has received a screenshot of a text, dated January 24, that said the following:
"Hi Guys.
"There is a media release tomorrow regarding our current situation within the store.
"Anyone who speaks to them runs the risk of loosing [sic] their job, your answer, if any will be ‘no comment’."
In response, a Woolworths New Zealand spokeswoman said "This text wasn’t something that anyone was instructed to say. We have reassured our store team that we are focused on fixing the issue.
First Union organiser Angus Wilson also downplayed any suggestion that staff would lose their jobs.
"We are aware that staff were informed not to speak to the media, but not in this manner.
"I believe the message should have been less blunt and should have included options to raise concerns with the company."
In a now daily update on the store’s progress, New Zealand Food Safety deputy director general Vincent Arbuckle said no rats were captured overnight on Wednesday, so the total remained 20 since the weekend.
"It is encouraging to see the number of overnight captures falling."
However, after Woolworths confirmed a rat was spotted on an in-store camera yesterday, New Zealand Food Safety confirmed the 48-hour "clear air" period had not begun for the store.
If there are no sightings or captures of a rat today, the earliest the store can reopen is Monday.
A staff member approached the Otago Daily Times last month with accounts of a rat-infested store.
Concerns were raised store management was not taking the issue seriously at the time.
Then a photo, taken in November last year, was supplied to the ODT, which Woolworths confirmed showed a rat in its Countdown Dunedin South deli section.
Then after rat captures were reported and the store was closed for increased pest control efforts, several more photos emerged.
In one photo a rat appears to be trapped in an upturned shopping basket. In another rat droppings surround a mixing bowl in what appears to be the supermarket’s bakery.
Rodent sightings have also increased elsewhere in the country.
A video of a mouse in a deli at Christchurch’s Countdown Eastgate came to light, prompting a wider review of Woolworths pest management practices.
On Wednesday, media reports also emerged of a pigeon roosting on food shelves in Woolworths Grey Lynn in Auckland. —Additional reporting Hamish MacLean
