Foodtown’s night staff get notice of cut

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 6

Foodtown’s night staff get notice of cut

PA Auckland Only one employee will be without work after the decision by Foodtown not to open its supermarkets for a third night each week, a spokesman for the chain said last evening. Altogether, 130 workers are affected by the move, but 129 have other employment. The Court of Appeal ruled this week that Foodtown could not employ staff on more than two nights a week. Three Foodtown stores, two in Auckland and one in Tauranga, had been opening

on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. The joint managing director of Foodtown, Mr Graeme Kelly, said 130 workers had been given notice that they would no longer have work on Wednesday nights. Mr Owen Harvey, secretary of the Northern Butchers and Grocers’ Union, said meetings were held at the three stores last evening to explain to workers why they would not be able to work three nights a week. He said most workers had already been allocated other hours during

the week. Foodtown went ahead with the three late nights trading on the strength of a High Court decision in 1982 and historical practice of late Christmas shopping before 1982, said Mr Kelly. The Court of Appeal decision came as a surprise to the National Association of Retail Grocers and Supermarkets. Its national secretary, Mr Burt Turley, said he believed a third late night was permissible. Other retailers who hoped to open more late nights would be disappointed with the decision, he said.