By Anita Dangazele
- Aspen has already retrenched 134 jobs, and unions say more cuts are planned without proper consultation.
- Numsa and Ceppwawu say Aspen is ignoring alternatives like reducing overtime or counting voluntary exits as part of the job cuts.
Unions at Aspen Pharmacare’s production plant in Gqeberha have threatened to take the pharmaceutical giant to court over job cuts.
The company has already begun formal consultations to retrench 134 workers, but unions say Aspen is now pushing for more cuts, without proper notice or process.
The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) have accused the company of ignoring worker proposals and failing to follow labour laws.
Aspen’s operations boss Branson Bosman told staff in June that a full company-wide review is underway and could result in more retrenchments by August or September.
The review follows several major blows, including the shutdown of the plant’s eyedrop line after a failed United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection, and the loss of a R2-billion contract.
Bosman said the decision was driven by several challenges, including cost-cutting, reduced overtime, and unsuccessful attempts to redeploy affected workers.
But Numsa regional secretary Mziyanda Twani says the company is not acting in good faith.
“They already have 90 workers who volunteered for severance packages. We said they should be used to reduce the 134 cuts, but Aspen refuses. They say those workers will be counted in a second phase,” said Twani.
He warned that if Aspen does not reconsider, the unions will go to court.
Twani also criticised Aspen’s overtime policy, saying it creates artificial workloads and that reducing it could prevent further retrenchments. “We want a fourth shift introduced to avoid job losses, but Aspen won’t consider it,” he said.
Ceppwawu organiser Karools Adams said the company is still targeting 94 more workers on a separate list and shows no sign of slowing down.
“The plant has even hired new people in other areas last year, but now they are cutting staff only from the eyedrop unit. That’s not fair,” Adams said.
The first phase of retrenchments is expected to conclude by 31 July. A final meeting between Aspen, the unions, and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) is set for Friday.
Some workers said they feel left in the dark and anxious about what lies ahead.
“We’re overloaded with work, but still worried we could lose our jobs. We don’t know anything for sure,” one employee said.
Aspen spokesperson Shauneen Beukes said the company may issue a formal statement “at an opportune time”.
Pictured above: Aspen production plant in Gqeberha.
Image source: Facebook
