Cape Town - The South African Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) has threatened to extend the Makro stores strike to more Massmart operations, while the company ignores their demands which include a wage hike and a freeze on retrenchments.
This comes after thousands of Makro workers have downed tools and kicked off their protest to demand salary increases and better working conditions nationwide last week.
Speaking to CapeTalk, Saccawu spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete, said Makro was negotiating in bad faith and said the temporary staff brought in was not upto standard.
“The workers that are not present at work are known for being productive or excellent in their jobs and it is going to take time for those who have been recruited to be able to satisfy the needs of the customers,” he said.
Tshwete also said that they were dealing with a company that was not negotiating in good faith.
“The last time we had met they had gone back to renew their mandate and we came with an offer from 7.5 % to 12%, then the company came back to the negotiation table and they were still offering the very same 4,5% which is conditional.
“Some of these conditions are ridiculous; that we need to dissolve the bargaining unit at their store and workers (can) take the 4.5% only if they resign from the union. They have been saying that thousands of workers have already resigned from the union.
“That is one of the things that has been complicating the whole situation. We are dealing with a group of managers who act as lawyers and are always looking for a loophole in anything and negotiating in bad faith.
“We have reached out to the board members to indicate to them that they need to do (some) introspection on the group of people who they are sending to negotiations,” Tshwete said.
Tshwete added that the union had previously warned the government that Massmart had a track record of undermining and bashing trade unions.
“We are seeing a situation where they are reducing our numbers by retrenching workers who are aligned with Saccawu, so that we do not become a majority union at their stores,” he said.
Brian Leroni, senior vice president: corporate affairs at Massmart, said: “Notwithstanding that the 2022 Makro negotiation cycle has closed, Saccawu has tabled new demands, including a two-year moratorium on retrenchments.
“This is in addition to their primary demands for a 12% wage increase and doubling of sales commission from 10% to 20%. It’s clear that Saccawu is intent on pushing the parties further apart rather than on trying to find common ground,“ he said.
“This appears to be the result of infighting within the union and is consistent with the incoherent and bad-faith approach that the union has taken throughout the 2022 negotiation process.
“Because we have closed the 2022 negotiation cycle, all these demands will now be handled in the 2023 wage negotiation cycle which begins in March,” he added.
IOL