| Wed 20 Jul 2005, 15:28 | | Pick `n Pay Stores / Pick `n Pay Holdings - Pick ` |
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Pick `n Pay Stores / Pick `n Pay Holdings - Pick `N Pay Wage Offer Already
Higher Than That Already Settled By Saccawu With Other Retailers
Pick `n Pay Stores Limited Pick `n Pay Holdings Limited
Share code: PIK Share code: PWK
ISIN code: ZAE000005443 ISIN code: ZAE000005724
PICK `N PAY WAGE OFFER ALREADY HIGHER THAN THAT ALREADY SETTLED BY SACCAWU WITH
OTHER RETAILERS
Pick `n Pay remains one of the highest remunerators in the retail industry
The company `unclear` as to Union`s motives
Offer from Pick `n Pay already higher than offers accepted by the Union from
other retailers
Offer from Pick `n Pay significantly above rate of inflation (roughly double)
Pick `n Pay created 4000 jobs last year with more to come this year
Pick `n Pay one of the highest remunerators in the country already
Retailer Pick `n Pay said today that it was regrettable that the Union, SACCAWU,
had decided upon strike action against the company, when what had been offered
to them was already above that which the Union had already settled with other
major retailers.
Pick `n Pay has offered a monthly increase of 7.9%, or R310, whichever is the
greater. The Union has already accepted R300 and no percentage increase from
Edgars, South Africa`s most profitable retailer, while Shoprite Checkers has
offered R210 against the Union`s R285 demand. The Union is demanding R400 from
Pick `n Pay.
The offer applies to full-time employees only. Variable-time employees and
occasional-time employees received their increases in March of this year.
Chief Executive Sean Summers said: `Pick `n Pay is already one of the highest
remunerators in the South African retail industry. Our offer, we believe, is
both fair and above that which has already been settled by one retailer, and
demanded from another. Our offer of 7.9% is well above the rate of inflation,
which at May 2005 was below 3%.
`Quite apart from wages paid, Pick `n Pay`s total employment package is one of
the most competitive in South Africa, with a very wide range of benefits to
employees.
`It is not clear to us, therefore, what the issue is all about. The Union has
called a national strike on the issue of wage negotiations, but focuses on two
unrelated issues: that of a programme aired on SABC - `Special Assignment` and
executive remuneration.
`We have had a very close, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship
with the Union over the years and are very disappointed that they have taken
this stance.
`The Unions have been particularly vocal on the loss of jobs in the textile
industry, yet last year alone, Pick `n Pay created 4000 new, sustainable and
stable jobs in our company. This year, more stores will be opened, which means
more jobs. What is also important to note is that job security remains our top
priority at Pick `n Pay, which is why we have never retrenched a single employee
in our 38 year history. There are few companies of comparable size who can claim
that in South Africa.
`For us, this is a supreme irony: that we are net job creators in an environment
of job losses, that we are already one of the highest payers in the country,
that we have already offered more than has been accepted by the Union from other
retailers and yet still, the Union is calling for a strike. This strike will
affect the performance of the very company that is creating new and meaningful
jobs for its members.`
ENDS
For further information, please contact Tamra Veley on 083 251 3658
Cape Town
20 July 2005
Date: 20/07/2005 03:02:09 PM
Produced by the JSE SENS Department
