BusinessLive reports that trade union Solidarity’s members have timed their industrial action at Sasol to coincide with a planned maintenance shutdown at the petrochemical firm’s Secunda and Sasolburg plants.
So any delays in the shutdown and in restarting operations could cause significant financial losses for the company. Solidarity members largely comprise highly trained artisans and other skilled workers who are integral to such a planned shutdown and restart. Solidarity’s white members are protesting their exclusion from the company’s new employee share ownership scheme, Sasol Khanyisa. The union’s Deon Reyneke said for safety reasons it would have been difficult to stop production when Sasol operations were at full production, but the planned shutdown has provided the 6,300 union members an opportunity to slow down the process and potentially delay the restarting of operations at great cost to the company. As part of a staggered industrial action, Solidarity members would, for now, "work to rule", said Reyneke. Members participated in early morning picketing on Monday, but a "complete strike" will take place on Thursday, with a mass meeting of the community at the Secunda plant and the Sasol coal mines. Sasol has meanwhile activated its contingency measures to minimise potential disruptions said planned maintenance shutdowns had continued as scheduled. Operations that were not part of the annual maintenance shutdown were also continuing as planned, it said. But, three weeks gives the union time to execute its strategy and increasingly exert pressure on the company.
- Read this informative report by Lisa Steyn in full at BusinessLive
- Read too, Solidarity labour action puts pressure on Sasol, at SA Labour News
- And also, Sasol launches contingency plan in light of Solidarity strike over share scheme, at Engineering News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page