The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) has called on Shoprite to provide R3,000 monthly food vouchers to all workers
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The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) has called on Shoprite to provide R3,000 monthly food vouchers to all workers and cut prices on essential food.
In a statement, the union also said the retailer makes around R20 million in profit per day, while CEO Pieter Engelbrecht reportedly earns R87 million a year, and many employees struggle to make ends meet on wages that do not meet the cost of living.
"At a time when unemployment, poverty, hunger, and inequality continue to deepen, Shoprite Checkers continues to make billions in profits while workers and communities struggle to survive. Food prices remain unaffordable for the majority of South Africans, especially low-income earners, unemployed people, pensioners, and workers earning poverty wages.".
IOL previously reported that South Africa’s inflation rate accelerated sharply in April as record fuel price increases filtered through the economy, pushing annual consumer inflation to its highest level since August 2024.
The union added that no worker in the food retail sector should go hungry while corporations generate massive profits.
"As the biggest food retailer in South Africa, Shoprite carries a social and moral responsibility towards the working class and the poor. Instead, the company continues to enrich shareholders and executives while consumers are forced to choose between food, transport, electricity, and school."
IOL reached out to Shoprite for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The union further said that "rejects the attempt by major retailers to hide behind limited Corporate Social Investment programmes while continuing to accumulate massive profits from poor communities".
"The constitutional right to sufficient food and basic nutrition cannot coexist with excessive profiteering from essential food items. Food is not a luxury; it is a basic human right".
FAWU’s demands include:
"We call on workers, communities, progressive organisations, and all defenders of social justice to unite in the struggle against hunger, exploitation, and corporate greed".
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
IOL Business