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BL Premium reports that the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu), which claims about 20,000 of retail giant Massmart’s 45,000-strong workforce, said it would embark on an indefinite strike from Friday over wage increases and looming retrenchments.
The union also called for a boycott of Massmart stores from 22 November. The retailer, owned by Walmart, has been struggling to shake off the effects of Covid-19 and the associated lockdown restrictions that saw it lose billions due to government-imposed bans on alcohol sales. The July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng brought more setbacks for the group when two of its warehouses were looted and one burnt to the ground, with 43 stores damaged. The planned strike will come as most shoppers and retailers look forward to the annual shopping bonanza of Black Friday, which falls on the fourth Friday of November. Saccawu’s Sithembele Tshwete said on Tuesday that the union had received three certificates of non-resolution from the CCMA relating to a retrenchment process at Massmart’s Game stores affecting about 400 workers, as well as issues around wages and a unilateral change to conditions of employment. On wages, Tshwete said the union had been demanding a R500 increase across the board and had rejected Massmart’s proposal of R320. “The company is also unilaterally changing the conditions of employment of the group’s customer relations officers. They are taking away the car allowance and have not given any reasons why they are doing all of this,” claimed Tshwete. Massmart’s Brian Leroni said in a statement that the rationale for the strike was not clear.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Saccawu to start indefinite strike at Walmart-owned firm Massmart, at Engineering News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page