Saccawu to strike at Makro over wages

The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) has served Makro with 48 hours' notice of intention to strike after wage dispute resolution at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) failed.

The union and the Massmart Group subsidiary have been locking horns for close to a year over Saccawu’s wage demands, which include an across the board increase of R900 or 12%, whichever is the greater, a minimum wage of R8,000 and a 13th cheque.

Saccawu has held marches and demonstrations at Makro premises to apply pressure on the wholesaler, including one in November which saw union members clash with police in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, with some people injured.

The company has repeatedly said it cannot meet the union’s demands and that Saccawu is using intimidation and threats to maintain relevance at the company. The union accused Makro of undermining collective bargaining.

The parties went to the CCMA to try to resolve their dispute last week, but this was unsuccessful. Saccawu said it served Makro with 48 hours' notice of intention to strike on Wednesday.

“At the core of the unresolved dispute is the attitude of the company to undermine collective bargaining. The company has placed conditions that are unacceptable in their latest offer, which is that the union abandon the bargaining unit. This means workers at Makro are to be left unrepresented by any union,” Saccawu said.

It had no choice but to “defend collective bargaining” from management and would hold marches and pickets at Makro premises around the country starting on Friday.

“The union is also galvanising other stores within the Massmart Group and retail sector to join the strike through a secondary or sympathy strike. These companies include Game, Fruitspot, Builders Warehouse, Rhino, Shield and Jumbo.”

Business Times has sent questions to Massmart requesting comment on the union’s announcement.

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