The New Age reports that following a stand-off of more than two weeks between the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) and Tongaat-Hulett Starch (THS), the parties have reached a settlement.
THS is a division of the Tongaat-Hulett Group. The dispute, which was chiefly about wages, has seen Fawu settling for 8.5% wage increase for lower grade workers, 7.5% for middle grade workers and 7.1% for top-level workers. The wage increases will be backdated from the first of this month. Fawu national sector organiser Thabo Kota said they were happy with the settlement reached, coming as it did from the 6% that THS initially wanted to grant to employees. Fawu had initially demanded a 10.5% wage increase and overtime pay for higher-grades employees when working on weekends and public holidays. Kota said there were still outstanding issues that Fawu was planning to refer to the CCMA at a date yet to be confirmed. "Standby allowance and overtime pay are still issues that need to be addressed, as these fall short to serving the full well-being of our members," Kota stated.
- Read this report by Refilwe Magashule in full at HTSyndication (The New Age)
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