Business Times reports that the SA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) on Friday began an indefinite strike at Walmart-owned Massmart, sparking concern this could spill over into the rest of the sector, which is already facing rising costs and a weak economy.
Saccawu spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete said the union was “busy talking” to staff at other retailers who could inflict pressure on Massmart in the “form of a sympathy or secondary strike”, and the union would “announce this one soon”. Casparus Treurnicht of Gryphon Asset Management commented that there “is always the possibility” of this type of industrial action affecting other retailers. Alec Abraham of Sasfin Wealth noted that “invariably any large-scale industrial action at retail level” could have a knock-on impact and affect general consumer confidence overall. The strike comes amid Massmart’s turnaround plan, but corporate affairs executive Brian Leroni said this strategy would not be affected by the strike as only a small proportion of the group’s total of 45,000 employees were participating and contract staff had been brought in, meaning there was more than enough capacity. By late Friday afternoon, Massmart estimated that fewer than 23% of Saccawu’s members had participated in the strike and said “stores are operating smoothly”. However, Tshwete said workers “that are inside the stores are not our members but replacement labour brought in by the company, purportedly from labour brokers”. Saccawu is striking to demand a 10% wage increase at Massmart’s Builders division (where the company has apparently offered 4%); at Game the union wants staff who were retrenched earlier this year to be reinstated in their original jobs; and it wants better car and cellphone allowances for about 170 Makro customer relationship officers.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nick Wilson at Business Times
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