News

Gerard Dwyer from Australia (left) represented the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) at the Pick' n Pay Alliance meeting

This was said by UNI Africa President Bones Skulu when he addressed the inaugural Pick’ n Pay Union Alliance meeting held in Johannesburg on 27 April.

Skulu, who is also SACCAWU General Secretary, said there was need to organise Pick’ n Pay workers and ensure that fundamental union rights and ILO core labour standards are respected wherever the company expands.

Among the aims of the Pick’ n Pay Union Alliance are to:

· organise workers in Pick’ n Pay, its subsidiaries and franchises

· establish national shop stewards councils who will keep workers mobilised and informed

· negotiate a global agreement with Pick’ n Pay.

Australia, Mauritius, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe attended the meeting.

Among the challenges identified by the participants was organising workers in franchise stores, labour brokers, wage inconsistencies between workers and conditions for maternity leave in some countries.

Pick’ n Pay is the second largest African retailer after Shoprite Checkers. It operates three divisions: Retail, Group Enterprises (franchises) and Franklins Australia.

It has 782 stores (284 of them franchises) in Australia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland (Boxer) and Zimbabwe (TM). The company has expansion plans for Angola, Abu Dhabi, Jamaica, Mauritius and Zambia.

And UNI Commerce Policy Officer Jakob Thieman said multinational companies have become too powerful and workers needed to create solidarity in a global union alliance.

He said UNI Commerce was promoting social dialogue with multinational companies through global agreements. The sector has so far signed six global agreements with Carrefour, H&M, Metro, Takashimaya, Inditex and Shoprite Checkers.