BL Premium reports dairy producer Clover has approached the Labour Court to declare a strike unprotected after workers marched across the Johannesburg CBD this week and stripped store shelves of products as part of their boycott strategy.
The nationwide strike by unionised Clover employees intensified in its ninth week when workers took to retail stores on Tuesday to remove Clover products from shelves to put them into shopping trolleys. Members of the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) and the General Industrial Workers Union of SA (Giwusa) have called for consumers to stop buying Clover products until their demands are met. The company approached the court on an urgent basis seeking to interdict the consumer boycott campaign, pending a separate court process expected to start on Thursday, when it will seek an order declaring the strike as unprotected. Clover wants the court to restrain a group of seven union leaders from encouraging or inciting union members and members of the public to disrupt the business operations of any of its customers' business operations. It also asked the courts to stop unions from picketing outside the private residence of Clover Group CEO Johann Vorster. “Unions and their members have taken the law into their own hands by intimidating other non-striking workers, removing products from shelves and affecting the businesses of retailers,” Clover said in response to questions. Due to restructuring Clover implemented a retrenchment process which sparked protests at its factories in Clayville, Durban, Gqeberha, Polokwane and Cape Town. Workers have accused the company of backtracking on the merger conditions of its takeover by Milco when it started laying off workers in 2021.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Michelle Gumede at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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