About 30 merchandisers, many of them part-time workers, met with Community Legal Advice Whanganui (CLAW) yesterday after a city supermarket announced it was changing the hours they could re-stock store shelves.
Pak'n Save supermarket has told the merchandisers the hours would change from April 16 to satisfy customer needs and also to provide a safer shopping environment.
That means the shelves would have to be re-stocked before 8am each day but the merchandisers say some of them will have to give up their jobs to care for family.
A spokesperson for the affected workers said the meeting with CLAW was "very successful" and the outcome would be relayed back to those who could not attend.
"At the end of the day these workers want to keep their jobs," the spokesperson said.
"Three have already resigned and will return to the benefit after more than 10 years [of] service with their companies, while others will be reviewing their situation closer to April 16."
Gareth Jones, owner-operator of Pak'n Save Wanganui, told the Chronicle that the store was undertaking changes to better meet the needs of customers and providing a safer shopping environment.
"Local customer research highlighted the need for us to change how we re-stock the shelves," Mr Jones said.
"Customers told us they find it hard to shop while staff and supplier merchandisers are filling shelves and operating equipment gets in the way of them being able to get the items they choose to buy."
He said they had also been concerned with the health and safety aspect of operating ladder trucks - large ladder frames that get stock down from the overhead racks to fill the shelves - in the store.
But a spokesperson for the workers, some who work for up to five different companies at one time re-stocking store shelves, said about eight of the workers would have to resign because of the changed hours.
"One merchandiser has been told if she didn't want to lose her hours she could come in and work from 2am to 8am. This is insane as she would have children aged under 14 years left at home alone," the spokesperson said.
In a letter to its merchandisers, Pak'n Save announced it would be changing the hours from April 16.
The merchandisers' spokesperson said it would have a major impact on workers, many of them single parents or from low income families.
"Making those people work several hours before 8am each day was unworkable as some of the workers are solo mothers," she said.
But Mr Jones said the store had a responsibility to provide a safe environment for customers.
"We believe we cannot do that while stock is being handled from high racks," he said.
He said no merchandiser jobs had been lost as a result of the change nor had they lost hours.
The merchandisers' spokesperson said they disputed claims the change was happening because customers were complaining about the ladders in the aisles.