Some staff at New World Centre City in Dunedin are suffering ''hardship'' after their hours were cut with no consultation, First Union organiser Shirley Walthew says.
A recent change in rostering practice had severely affected some workers.
Before the change, they had reasonably consistent hours with only small weekly variations, and a consultative approach, she said.
''Reducing somebody's full time hours [30 hours or more] to part time hours is creating hardship. They budget around the hours they have had.''
Many of the affected staff were ''permanent part timers'' who used to enjoy steady shifts.
Ms Walthew said she was trying to organise a meeting to resolve the problem, but the management was asking for details about individual staff complaints before agreeing to meet.
It affected the store's 20 union members and also the non union members.
Workers had been told change was necessary to ''better meet the customers' needs'', but it was unclear what that meant, Ms Walthew said.
She said it was becoming more difficult for students to get time off for exams, a claim disputed by the store yesterday. New World Centre City owner Craig Nieper said the supermarket had never declined a student's request for time off to sit an exam.
''There was one request recently where a student requested four days of leave, none of which included time to sit an exam.
''The student was only rostered to work one day a week, so this request was equivalent to a month of holiday.
''Due to business needs and the fact she did not have any outstanding leave owing, this request was declined,'' Mr Nieper said in a statement.
The company was willing to have a meeting with the union, but wanted more information about what would be discussed. He said changes in order delivery times meant staffing levels had to be ''amended''.
''We have done this in a manner that ensures all staff retain their positions and the appropriate processes are being followed as this process is completed.''
Asked how checkout operators were affected by delivery times, a spokeswoman said their hours had always been adjusted according to customer demand.
Without detail about which staff members were complaining it was difficult to comment further, the spokeswoman said.
