President General of the Contractors and General Workers Trade Union (CAGWTU), Ermine De Bique-Meade has charged that the Massy Stores was targeting women, after nine women were retrenched from the supermarket chain.
Chief education and research officer at the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) Ozzie Warwick called for the retrenchment notices to be revoked.
The permanent employees all worked as front-end supervisors who had tenures ranging between four years and 11 years and five months.
The women, who worked at different locations, were told in the retrenchment letters that their jobs had become redundant.
De Bique-Meade said that the CAGWTU had requested to meet with Massy officials on October 2 at which a counter-proposal on the matter would have been submitted. She however said that, “Because their financial year ends September, they wanted to show the powers that may be that they could get this thing wrapped up as soon as possible, not taking into account the human aspect of it.”
Warwick said that figures from the company showed they made millions in profits and he added, “This move by Massy is an example of what we are becoming as a society, where shareholder value and profit means more than the lives of our citizens.”
He said that the workers worked through the pandemic to ensure profitability but the company was now turning its back on them and the people of this country.