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Fin24 reports that the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) has served the Massmart Group with a seven-day notice of intention to go on strike at six of the company's subsidiaries over its ongoing wage dispute with Makro.
The union said its strike would involve 15,000 workers partaking in industrial action at Game, Builders Warehouse, Rhino, Fruitspot, Shield and Jumbo in support of the union's members at Makro. The union has been at loggerheads with Makro management for much of the year over its wage demands. On Black Friday, Saccawu held nationwide marches at various Makro operations, which included a clash with police at Makro's Germiston branch, leaving union members injured. The union is demanding an across-the-board increase of R900 or 12%, whichever is the greater, a minimum wage of R8,000, an increase in sales commission payments to 20%, a 13th cheque, and a moratorium on retrenchments for the duration of the agreement. Saccawu said it would protest from 15 December through marches and pickets at Massmart operations around the country. However, Massmart’s Brian Leroni said the union was sending mixed signals regarding the strike. He said the union went from issuing a strike notice to requesting mediation at the CCMA in a matter of days. He indicated: "On Monday, [5 December] Saccawu and Massmart agreed to enter into a mediation process with the CCMA starting on Friday [9 December]. On Wednesday, [7 December] Saccawu notified Makro of a one-day strike. Today, [8 December] Saccawu withdrew the strike notification and again requested that we meet at the CCMA. It is incredibly difficult to negotiate with an organisation that appears to be stymied by internal politics and power battles."
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane & Na'ilah Ebrahim at Fin24
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