GroundUp reports that about 100 workers have been on strike at Taylor Blinds & Shutters in Montague Gardens, Cape Town, since last Monday.

The strike for higher wages is led by the Independent Commercial Hospitality and Allied Workers Union (ICHAWU). Taylor has been a member of the Trellidor Group since 2016 and, according to its website, has 180 staff countrywide. The workers are demanding an increase of R250 a week and, according to the union, the company has offered 6%. The lowest paid workers at Taylor earn R980 before deductions per week or R23.50 per hour (the legal minimum wage is R23.19 per hour), so for those workers 6% is much less than R250. ICHAWU general secretary Dale Fish said that the union had reached a deadlock. The company gave notice of a ‘no work no pay’ lockout soon after the notice of strike action was given on 2 April. Fish said that the union told the company to lift the lockout, pay its members from Monday until now, and let the workers go back to work. Fish indicated that if they did not get an adequate response, then they would take the matter to the Labour Court to decide whether the lockout was lawful or not.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Liezl Human at GroundUp

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