6.4.2 Low pay, no benefits and no privileges, just work:
As noted in the previous section, workers who come back through agencies had limited industrial citizenship rights. In which workers were not protected in the workplace. Workers did not expect the conditions to be the same but did believe that their experience in retail would allow them to achieve favourable jobs in these stores or in retail.
The company would take on some responsibility of one’s personal and professional needs by providing paid maternity leave, paid sick leave and provident funds. When these workers started in the organisation, through their collective narratives, it can be argued that retail was seen as a place of growth due to all the civil action which took place in the mid-twentieth century (1930’s-1980’s). These workers fought for their place in the organisation. Unlike today where workers are only working to earn a living wage and in the case of these workers there are no benefits that come with that (Kenny, 2018: 62).
In retail, it is quite difficult to get promotions and become permanent as discussed in the findings chapter which saw many workers not being able to earn a permanent status until they have worked for the company for a few years. This permanent position would be in the same classification and job description in which they were casual. When going back to the workplace through labour brokers or franchises, it becomes even more difficult to gain promotions or higher wages. As noted, most workers hadn’t worked long enough to get these promotions and complained about the wages they were receiving. As mentioned in sustaining the nest egg, worker would often earn much less wages compared to when they were permanent. In one case, a participant stated that she earned less than half of her permanent salary when she returned to PnP through a franchise. While knowing that she earned less, on some occasions she would have to stay longer at the stores due to the store being busy even after she had finished her shift.
It is also clear that workers do work longer hours and have to work on weekends. This is something they did not do as permanent employees. It becomes evident that through literature casual workers do not get considered for promotions (Kenny, 2018: 170). This leads to an industrial citizenship right being eroded and that is reproduction security which states that the investment into workers to ensure that they advance their skills and education (Standing, 2011:
40; Standing, 2018; Monaco, 2019; Lain, Airey, Loretto and Vickerstaff, 2019).
The erosion of the reproductive security results in greater competitive nature of retail today.
As noted in the findings section when workers returned to work, they noticed colleagues being competitive with each other. In other words, workers are only there for themselves, and it was
a case of survival of the fittest (Lord, 2020: 412-414). This is due to uncertain contracts because the organisation would notify them abruptly that they are no longer needed. Kenny (2018) and Mathekga and Maciko (2018) discussed the ongoing tensions among workers when they were put up against each other – especially regarding promotions. As non-core workers are competing for permanent positions, if positions do become available, thus these workers would be able to move into the core level and be recognized by the organisation. This results in fragmentation of the workforce as the company would employ casual workers directly through the organisation and there are permanent staff as well. This creates layers in the organisation and fragments the workers based on working hours, wages and benefits. All of the workers are working for the company to ensure the company is productive and eventually create a profit.
When workers returned to PnP they did not see any union activity or were not aware of any union that could represent them, highlights the idea that formal workers solidarity was non- existent. Often resort to informal types of solidarity which Kenny discusses as abasebensi (Kenny, 2018: 18). Thus, implies that workers were unable to challenge the unfair working conditions through formal procedures. These conditions included working long hours and having to stay behind even after your shift has ended especially if the shop is too busy with customers. These conditions which workers are experiencing is similar to those in Zambia and Namibia as in those areas, workers to lack benefits (Miller, et al, 2008: 138; Aceska and Heer, 2019). However, those workers would rather be retail store workers than be unemployed. This highlights that the workplace became a place where tasks are performed and where workers need to work long hours (Miller, et al, 2008: 47; Aceska and Heer, 2019). The idea that workers would be within the core level before they took the voluntary retrenchment, to having some form of stability and moving into the non-core level (Webster, 2005: 57; Happiness, 2017).
Workers took these positions because it meant that they were able to sustain their nest eggs.
They complained about not having benefits or privileges which they enjoyed as PnP employees before they left the PnP.
Due to globalization retail workers are forced into the non-core level where they do have some form of protection, but they do end up giving up most of their citizenship rights, this highlights the worlds of work model (Webster, 2005: 67; Happiness, 2017). Thus, 0ne observes how workers started out as causal workers and gained industrial citizenship rights when they started in the late 1980s and 1990’s. These workers know what it’s like to have benefits and be
permanent in the workplace, but they also now had experience in these precarious conditions in stores. This due to MNCS such as Walmart coming into South Africa, the Pick n Pay would adopt labour restructuring strategies such as VRP’s. Workers would take up these options, due to seeing it as an opportunity to achieve their goals outside of the retail company.