There should be no compulsory redundancies, as supermarket giant Sainsbury’s announced a shake-up in its stores’ management structure.
The call came from Unite, the country’s largest union, which said it would be seeking guarantees over no compulsory redundancies at Sainsbury’s, after the retailer revealed plans which put thousands of workers at risk of redundancy.
Calling on the supermarket to offer redeployment opportunities for affected staff, Unite expressed anger over the plans, which sees the removal of the team leader/store supervisor roles in all stores, along with major changes to the department manager and deputy manager structure.
Unite acting national officer for food and drink Bev Clarkson said: “This is very bad news for those dedicated workers affected by the planned job losses and Unite will be giving our members maximum support at this difficult time.
“Unite will be seeking guarantees from the management during the 45-day consultation period that there will be no compulsory redundancies for our members.
“We appreciate that Sainsbury’s has a good record of redeployment of staff in these situations and we will be exploring every avenue to ensure the continuing employment for our members.
“During the consultation period, we will be having meetings with management, including asking the company if it has done an equalities’ impact audit of those affected by today’s announcement.”
Unite represents more than 12,000 members working for Sainsbury’s and the plans impact on all locations across the country.