Nissan SA and the Metalworkers’ Union have begun negotiations about forced retrenchments after too few workers applied for the manufacturer’s voluntary separation packages.
Nissan SA and the Metalworkers’ Union have begun negotiations about forced retrenchments after too few workers applied for the manufacturer’s voluntary separation packages.
Nissan said that only 323 workers had applied for the packages and the offer, which closed on Wednesday, had been extended until 10am on Friday. Nissan needs to retrench 916 workers.
Nissan’s senior vice-president of human resources, Henry Grimbeek, said the company needed applications for the more enhanced voluntary packages to reach two-thirds of the total (616) for the agreement to work.
"Management and the union have in the meantime embarked on negotiations about forced retrenchment, which will probably be on a last in, first out basis," Nissan SA spokesperson Megan MacDonald told Business Report. The forced retrenchment packages will have fewer benefits than the voluntary offers.
This is the second time that a plan of voluntary retrenchment has failed at Nissan. An earlier “historic” agreement aimed at “rejuvenating” the workforce failed last month after only 27 employees applied for severance packages. The agreement is aimed at replacing older workers at the Rosslyn plant near Pretoria. The affected workers were to have then trained the new recruits.
