How retrenched workers landed on their feet thanks to reskilling
Food & Allied Workers Union and Do More Foundation stepped in after 1,350 were laid off at RCL Foods due to cheap chicken imports
RCL Foods was forced to retrench workers at its Hammarsdale poultry plant early in 2017 as cheap chicken imports from countries such as the US, Brazil and parts of the EU put the local industry under pressure. Nonjabulo Shabalala, 33, was one of the 1,350 workers who were laid off. Having worked at the factory for more than eight years, the news of her retrenchment came as a huge shock. “I was the only breadwinner at home and my impending layoff was not going to affect me alone, but eight other family members,” she recalled. The Food & Allied Workers Union (Fawu) intervened. It wanted to ensure that the younger workers were reskilled and refocused to take up other opportunities in the economy. Their training was overseen by the Do More Foundation, a non-profit organisation that receives funding from local companies. “I took this opportunity and did a two-year diploma in fashion design at the Pietermaritzburg School of Fashion,” Shabalala said. Some of her former colleagues took cour...
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