By Anita Dangazele
- Aspen says rising costs and cancelled contracts are behind the retrenchments, but unions accuse the company of using voluntary packages to force workers out.
- Union boss Irvin Jim says Aspen’s contract losses were caused by mismanagement, not cancellations, and warns workers won’t accept the layoffs quietly.
Pharmaceutical company Aspen has reduced its planned job cuts to 656 workers at its Gqeberha and East London plants, but unions are not happy.
The retrenchments are the second round of layoffs this year. Aspen already cut 134 jobs after shutting down its eyedrops production line in Gqeberha.
Unions say the company is forcing workers out by offering severance packages instead of negotiating properly.
Aspen first told unions it planned to cut 923 jobs. But a leaked presentation from a 14 October meeting shows the number has dropped to 656.
The company blames the cuts on rising costs, cancelled contracts and the permanent closure of its eyedrops line, which was first suspended after a United States inspection in September 2024.
During Section 189A consultations last week, Aspen warned it could lose billions of rand in 2025 if the retrenchments don’t go ahead.
But the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) say Aspen is using the cuts to quietly trim staff numbers.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim accused the company of mismanagement, saying the lost contracts were part of an internal reshuffle. He said Aspen was retrenching “through the back door” by offering voluntary separation packages with a deadline of 19 August 2025.
Aspen spokesperson Shauneen Beukes declined to comment, saying the company does not discuss staff matters through the media.
Pictured above: Aspen plant in Gqeberha.
Image source: Facebook
