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GroundUp reports that more than 300 workers from Premier’s Mister Sweet branch in Germiston will return to work on 11 November, after negotiations on Friday brought their 11-week strike to an end.
The Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) said the strikers had agreed to Premier’s initial offer of a 7% increase for operators and 6% for general workers during the current year, and of 6% for operators and 5% for general workers in 2025 and in 2026. They had initially demanded a minimum wage of R19,500 a month for the highest paid workers. During the long strike, several casual workers were badly injured in accidents. There were also reports of casual workers sleeping on company premises to keep up with production pressure. “We were faced with a situation where the festive season is fast approaching, and we had to sign a deal under pressure. People need to make money for their families for December and have school fees to think about for January,” said Jacob Potlaki from the SWF. He said some workers had already returned to work last week. Premier’s Siobhan O’Sullivan said the 1 November wage agreement was backdated to January and workers would return on 11 November. Some workers expressed their unhappiness with the outcome of the strike. One worker said she has no choice but to go back to work because she has lost lots of money during the strike. “It’s as if we have been striking for nothing because none of our demands were met. We feel that the company has taken advantage of us by sticking to its old offer, knowing that we now desperately need money,” she lamented.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kimberly Mutandiro at GroundUp
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page