A major retrenchment process is withdrawn

Pick n Pay has withdrawn a formal retrenchment consultation process that could have affected approximately 22,000 store-based employees, following an agreement with the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU). The decision, announced on 22 October and reported more widely on 23 October, changes the immediate outlook for thousands of workers caught between the retailer’s financial turnaround and organised labour’s opposition to job cuts.

The retailer initiated the Section 189A process under the Labour Relations Act on 4 May 2026. Such a process provides for consultation over possible large-scale retrenchments; it does not mean that every employee covered by the process was destined to lose their job. The company has now withdrawn that consultation. The full operational terms of the new labour agreement were not disclosed in the initial reports.

Why the confrontation reached government

Pick n Pay argued that its store labour model needed to change to match customer shopping patterns, improve competitiveness and contain operating costs. SACCAWU and the Congress of South African Trade Unions objected to the proposed process and the scale of employment uncertainty it created.

Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth intervened in June, bringing union leaders and Pick n Pay executives back to the negotiating table. That intervention did not immediately settle the dispute; it opened a route to the agreement that has now led the retailer to withdraw its formal consultation.

The announcement is significant because retail jobs are spread across communities and often support more than one household. It is also a reminder that a corporate restructuring proposal can change through bargaining before dismissals are implemented.

The turnaround still has to work

Pick n Pay’s underlying business challenge remains. The company has been trying to restore the performance of its core supermarkets while its Boxer discount business continues to grow. In its latest trading guidance, the group expected its headline loss per share for the first half of the 2027 financial year to narrow by between 25% and 35%. A smaller loss is progress, not the same thing as a return to profitability.

The retailer was due to publish interim results on Monday, 26 October, when further detail on the union agreement and the turnaround may emerge. Until then, it would be premature to claim that every job is permanently protected or that the company has abandoned all future workforce changes.

For workers, the immediate development is concrete: this particular Section 189A process has been withdrawn. For investors and customers, the next question is whether the retailer can improve performance without reigniting a dispute on the same scale.

Sources and verification

Pick n Pay withdrawal and union agreement — Eyewitness News, 23 October 2026: Read source ↗

Trading statement and labour timeline — Daily Investor, 22 October 2026: Read source ↗