BL Premium reports that members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) have embarked on a wage strike at SA Forestry Company Limited (Safcol) in support of demands for above-inflation increases.
Safcol, SA’s third largest state-owned enterprise, is involved in the forestry industry with operations in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, and in the Manica and Sofala provinces of Mozambique. Fawu members at Safcol’s Mpumalanga operations downed tools on Wednesday demanding a pay rise of 8%. Their other demands include a standby allowance of R150 per standby, acting and danger allowances of R100 respectively, a sleep-out allowance of R135, and medical aid “subsidised by the employer”. Fawu general secretary Mayoyo Mngomezulu said the union had engaged in protracted negotiations with employers in the industry in an attempt to address worker demands, but “the employers have failed to adequately respond to the demands and left the members with no choice but to exercise their right to strike.” He said the strike would continue “indefinitely” until a satisfactory resolution was reached. Mngomezulu added that while the strike continued, the union would mobilise for a secondary strike “in the industry value chain” and seek an audience with the government departments and ministers responsible.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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