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BL Premium reports that negotiations aimed at averting job losses at struggling retail giant Massmart were yielding positive results, the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) said on Tuesday.
The company is grappling with a R6bn sales hit from the global Covid-19 pandemic. It announced a turnaround plan in January 2020 as well as the potential closure of 34 DionWired and Masscash stores, ultimately opting to dispose of 11 of the latter. Massmart announced last Friday that it intended selling an additional 14 Masscash stores. The announcement of additional disposals came on the heels of news that the sale of eight of its Masscash stores had received approval from competition authorities, which would save 640 jobs. The group is still seeking buyers for the remaining three. Saccawu spokesperson Mike Sikani advised that they have held meetings with Massmart twice a week, aimed at averting job losses. “There are positive results. We said instead of retrenchments, the company must absorb the affected workers in any available positions within the Massmart group, and they were placed accordingly,” Sikani indicated. He said the company had initially wanted to retrench about 1,400 employees during June and July last year, and noted that most of the affected employees had been placed in other posts within the company already. The parties were now trying to reach an agreement in respect of about 132 employees that have yet to be placed.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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