by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
SACCAWU says it is preparing to oppose Pick n Pay’s restructuring process, warning that around 22,000 workers could be affected.
The dispute relates to the retailer’s Section 189A consultation process involving store employees in its Non-Management Bargaining Unit, launched as part of Pick n Pay’s turnaround efforts to improve efficiency and competitiveness.
The union accused the retailer of sidestepping established engagement structures and rejected reports suggesting negotiations over revised employment terms were already under way.
According to SACCAWU, workers are being pressured to either accept retrenchments or agree to reduced employment conditions, including changes to collective agreements and benefits negotiated over many years. COSATU has backed the union’s stance against possible job cuts and changes to worker benefits.
Pick n Pay said the process is aimed at reviewing labour flexibility and employment structures that it believes no longer match market conditions or changing customer shopping habits. The retailer insisted the consultation process is not intended to permanently reduce staff numbers, but to create a more sustainable operating model.
CEO Sean Summers said the retailer has already implemented major restructuring measures, including store closures, support office changes, salary freezes and the listing of Boxer, as part of efforts to restore profitability.
SACCAWU claims the proposals could reduce monthly working hours from 196 to 176, cutting wages by roughly R2,000 per employee, while also removing transport support for certain late-shift workers.
The union criticised Pick n Pay for referring the matter to the CCMA before tabling proposals internally and warned it may pursue industrial action if the dispute escalates.
Pick n Pay’s latest interim results showed its group loss before tax and capital items narrowed to R317 million, compared with R1.1 billion in the previous comparable period.
SACCAWU pushes back against Pick n Pay restructuring plans
SACCAWU says it is preparing to oppose Pick n Pay’s restructuring process, warning that around 22,000 workers could be affected.
The dispute relates to the retailer’s Section 189A consultation process involving store employees in its Non-Management Bargaining Unit, launched as part of Pick n Pay’s turnaround efforts to improve efficiency and competitiveness.
The union accused the retailer of sidestepping established engagement structures and rejected reports suggesting negotiations over revised employment terms were already under way.
According to SACCAWU, workers are being pressured to either accept retrenchments or agree to reduced employment conditions, including changes to collective agreements and benefits negotiated over many years. COSATU has backed the union’s stance against possible job cuts and changes to worker benefits.
Pick n Pay said the process is aimed at reviewing labour flexibility and employment structures that it believes no longer match market conditions or changing customer shopping habits. The retailer insisted the consultation process is not intended to permanently reduce staff numbers, but to create a more sustainable operating model.
CEO Sean Summers said the retailer has already implemented major restructuring measures, including store closures, support office changes, salary freezes and the listing of Boxer, as part of efforts to restore profitability.
SACCAWU claims the proposals could reduce monthly working hours from 196 to 176, cutting wages by roughly R2,000 per employee, while also removing transport support for certain late-shift workers.
The union criticised Pick n Pay for referring the matter to the CCMA before tabling proposals internally and warned it may pursue industrial action if the dispute escalates.
Pick n Pay’s latest interim results showed its group loss before tax and capital items narrowed to R317 million, compared with R1.1 billion in the previous comparable period.
Source: https://supermarket.co.za/index.php/news?catid=175&id=7913:saccawu-pushes-back-against-pick-n-pay-restructuring-plans&view=article
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
SACCAWU is preparing to oppose Pick n Pay’s proposed restructuring process, which it alleges could affect about 22,000 workers.
The dispute centres on Pick n Pay’s Section 189A consultation process involving store-based employees in its Non-Management Bargaining Unit, part of the retailer’s broader turnaround strategy aimed at improving competitiveness and operational efficiency. It started the consultation process last Monday.
The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union today accused the retailer of attempting to bypass established engagement structures and said it was angered by media reports suggesting it had already entered negotiations over new employment terms.
“The S189A CCMA notices issued to employees effectively give them two undesirable choices, one is to accept retrenchments, or as an alternative to retrenchments, to accept the downward variation of their negotiated conditions of employment, which includes their agreement to cancel all their collective agreements on workers’ rights and protections,” the union said in a statement.
COSATU supports
SACCAWU argued that the proposed restructuring threatened conditions negotiated over many years and warned it would oppose any attempt to unfairly vary employment terms or retrench workers.
Trade federation COSATU said it supported SACCAWU’s efforts to resist what it described as looming retrenchments of 22,000 staff and changes to negotiated worker benefits.
Pick n Pay, however, said the process was intended to review labour flexibility and employment structures that it believes are above current market norms and increasingly out of step with modern shopping patterns.
The retailer said the consultation process was not intended to permanently reduce overall job numbers, but rather to create a more sustainable and competitive store labour model aligned with customer shopping behaviour.
Critical reality
According to Pick n Pay, the review applies only to certain store-based employees and excludes support office staff and management structures.
CEO Sean Summers, who was brought out of retirement to turn the ailing retailer around, said it had already undertaken significant restructuring measures over the past two years, including changes to its holding structure, the Boxer listing, store closures, support office restructuring and salary freezes for support office staff.
“We must now address a critical reality that our current store labour model has been out of balance in the marketplace for some time. While established with positive intention, these structures have become increasingly complex, reducing flexibility and our ability to respond to retail trends and customer demands,” said Summers.
Summers added: “If we are to compete on an equal footing in an increasingly constrained marketplace, we can no longer sustain structures that are materially above market norms, especially while trying to return the business to profitability. Simply put, without change, this will put the business’s future at risk.”
Financial burden
SACCAWU, meanwhile, argued that workers should not bear the burden of the retailer’s operational and financial challenges while executives and shareholders remained protected.
Among SACCAWU’s concerns, it said, is that Pick n Pay will reduce “working hours from 196 hours per month to 176 hours (this is equivalent to a R2000 reduction in wages per employee)”.
It also accused Pick n Pay of “doing away with transport for employees who work late shifts that fall outside normal public transport schedules, and those who work a night shift”.
Pick n Pay’s latest results for the 26 weeks to the end of last August indicate that its loss at group level before tax and capital items reduced 69.9% to R317 million when compared with a loss of R1.1 billion in the first half of 2025.
SACCAWU also criticised the retailer’s decision to refer the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration before tabling proposals through internal negotiating structures.
Industrial action
The union said it was prepared to mobilise organisational and legal mechanisms to defend workers and warned industrial action could follow if the dispute escalated further.
“If further provoked we are organisationally ready to mobilise and campaign to rally our members and communities to unleash industrial and mass action in defence of our members, their families, collective agreements, workers’ rights and our country’s economy from vultures seeking to devour human progress and developmental imperative aimed to deliver better life for workers,” said SACCAWU.
Yet, Summers said “our priority through this process is to protect jobs wherever possible while building a more sustainable business. Our goal is to ensure that Pick n Pay can grow again, open more stores and continue to provide work for people in the future.
“To achieve this, we must stay competitive, be financially viable, and serve our customers in the way they choose to shop.”
Source: https://iol.co.za/business/jobs/2026-05-11-saccawu-prepares-fight-against-pick-n-pay-restructuring/
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union SACCAWU has rejected the Section 189 notice issued to workers by Pick n Pay .
The union has outlined its plan of action, accusing the retailer of undermining collective bargaining processes. The retailer has proposed an overhaul of its store labour model through a retrenchment process.
The union has threatened to down tools, calling on management to halt retrenchments and return to the negotiating table.
Source: https://www.theafrica.co.za/africanews/saccawu-rejects-pick-n-pay-retrenchment-notice-46154284
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
- More than 22 000 Pick n Pay workers could face retrenchment as the retailer moves ahead with restructuring plans.
- Trade unions SACCAWU and COSATU have strongly opposed the process, accusing the company of attempting to cut long-standing worker benefits and bypass union procedures.
- The unions say they are prepared to use legal avenues to protect jobs and prevent worsening poverty and inequality.
More than 22 000 workers could face retrenchment at one of South Africa’s leading retailers, Pick n Pay, as the company moves ahead with restructuring plans.
Trade unions, South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have vowed to resist the process and fight for thousands of workers who may lose their jobs.
“More maddening is that Pick n Pay attempted to bypass the process by serving the Section 189 notices directly to workers and not to the union, which is the collective bargaining agent for workers at the company,” said COSATU spokesperson Zanele Sabela.
At the centre of the dispute is Pick n Pay’s alleged attempt to remove benefits workers have secured over the years.
SACCAWU claims the retailer is using the Section 189 process to pressure the union into agreeing to the removal of transport provided to workers whose shifts end after normal public transport operating hours.
The union also alleges that Pick n Pay wants to withdraw subsidised meals offered to workers, cancel all legacy agreements with SACCAWU, remove the Sunday premium paid to full-time workers and scrap the 13th cheque.
In addition, SACCAWU believes the retailer intends reducing guaranteed working hours for full-time workers from 196 hours to 130 hours per month by converting them into variable-time employees without benefits.
The union has warned that the proposed restructuring will deepen poverty, unemployment and inequality among workers and their families.
Furthermore, SACCAWU said it is prepared to use all available legal mechanisms to protect and fight for affected workers.
Source: https://www.kaya959.co.za/news/over-20000-pickn-pay-workers-face-retrenchment-amid-restructuring-plans/
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
The union says the proposed changes include a R2 000 reduction in wages per employee.
The South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) has accused Pick n Pay of sacrificing 22 000 employees rather than restructuring the pay of the retailer’s executives.
The union’s view comes after Pick n Pay informed shareholders and employees that it would embark on a consultation process that will result in some changes to staff’s salary packages, while the possibility of retrenching some staff is not off the table.
“The consultation relates to certain elements of the company’s store labour model, including scheduling flexibility and the alignment of benefits and allowances, which are not in line with market practices and peer benchmarks,” said the retailer.
Pick n Pay restructures to restore profitability
In the note to shareholders, the retailer said the consultations are part of the strategy to return Pick n Pay to profitability. The retailer was previously technically insolvent, but this changed when it listed Boxer on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and gained from the IPO.
“The consultation forms part of the strategic action underway to restore the company to sustainable profitability and to strengthen the long-term competitiveness of its core supermarket business,” said Pick n Pay.
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“The objective of the process is not to reduce headcount, rather to improve labour flexibility and cost sustainability, while retaining jobs wherever possible and creating the conditions necessary for sustainable employment growth over the longer term.”
Store-based employees at risk
Pick n Pay said the consultation focuses on addressing labour practice that have become increasingly inflexible and costly over time and are no longer aligned with prevailing retail market practice.
The retailer added that the consultation process is to address the aforementioned matters and consider alternative options. It emphasised that the consultation does not represent a “predetermined outcome”.
“The process applies to specific store-based employees within the Non-Management Bargaining Unit and excludes head office employees and management structures which have already been part of a process over the last 24 months with a wage and salary freeze combined with a reduction in numbers due to restructuring.”
SACCAWU expresses unhappiness
The union representing most of the retailer’s workers expressed dissatisfaction with how Pick n Pay is restructuring and handling consultations.
“The S189A CCMA notices issued to employees effectively give them two undesirable choices, one is to accept retrenchments, or as an alternative to retrenchments, to accept the downward variation of their negotiated conditions of employment, which includes their agreement to cancel all their collective agreements on workers’ rights and protections,” said SACCAWU.
“Sean Summers’ decision to refer a dispute to the CCMA, before their proposals were tabled to SACCAWU, is indicative of the bad faith with which they are embarking on this process. Abusing the CCMA’s resources before SACCAWU had had sight of their proposals should be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Changes proposed
According to the union, Pick n Pay is proposing the following changes to employees’ packages and terms of employment:
- Reducing working hours from 196 hours per month to 176 hours (this is equivalent to a R2 000 reduction in wages per employee)
- Doing away with transport for employees who work late shifts that fall outside normal public transport schedules, and those who work a night shift.
- Withdrawing the negotiated 13th cheque for the Non-Management Bargaining Unit.
- Scrapping the legislated 1.5% Sunday pay, by treating Sunday as a normal working day.
- Doing away with benefits negotiated for Variable Time Employees (part-timers).
- Doing away with the Flexibility and Multi-Skilling Agreement, which was intended to create a more multi-skilled and flexible workforce.
Why not look at management?
The union has raised concerns about why the retailer doesn’t look at restructuring management’s pay and working conditions, instead of looking at the bottom.
“While Pick n Pay singles out the employees’ working conditions in the Non-Management Bargaining Unit wage bill, they conveniently do not show how much, as a percentage of the company’s wage bill, is allocated towards its executives and management structure,” said SACCAWU.
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“It must be noted that Pick n Pay’s desperate strategy to attack the gains made by its workers will have the unintended consequences of deepening the economic crisis that families of workers are already facing.
“Pick n Pay management are hellbent on ringfencing their own high salaries and benefits, while deepening the levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality, and economic hardship through its large-scale retrenchment.”
Workers can’t always be sacrificial lamb
In addition, the union added that employees cannot continue to bear the burden of corporate restructuring and business challenges, while executives and shareholders are protected.
“Pick n Pay is disingenuous by laying the blame or the company’s financial and operational difficulties at the feet of its employees, and their purported high salaries, out of sync working conditions, and lack of flexibility,” said SACCAWU.
“The express purpose for agreeing a 60% Variable Time and 40% Full Time employment ratio was to ensure the company has a more flexible workforce.”
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CEOs to be blamed
The union has also blamed two of the retailer’s former CEOs for the dire financial state Pick n Pay finds itself in.
“Pick n Pay also neglects to admit that its previous two CEO appointments have driven the company from a status of healthy profitability and market share into the shell of its former glory it is experiencing.
“Indicative of this is the wastage the company has suffered through Peter Boone, its former CEO’s QualiSave strategy, which was undone by Sean Summers immediately upon his appointment.”
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Source: https://www.citizen.co.za/business/pick-n-pay-saccawu-retrenchments-employees/
