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- The SA Commercial, Catering, and Allied Workers' Union is planning to strike at six Massmart Group companies over its ongoing wage dispute with Makro.
- The industrial action will feature 15 000 workers targeting Game, Builders Warehouse, Rhino, Fruitspot, Shield, and Jumbo.
- Massmart vice president of group corporate affairs, Brian Leroni, said the union was sending mixed signals to the company regarding the strike.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
The SA Commercial, Catering, and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) said it 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 feature 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 their 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.
READ | Union plans pickets at Makro warehouses on Black Friday
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 has today issued a seven-day notice to the companies above to join in on the strike at Makro. Makro employees are in a five-month dispute with Makro over the improvement of wages and working conditions," the statement said.
The statement said Saccawu would protest from 15 December through marches and pickets at Massmart operations around the country.
However, Massmart vice president of group corporate affairs, Brian Leroni, said the union was sending mixed signals to the company regarding the strike. He said the union went from issuing a strike notice to requesting mediation at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) in a matter of days.
"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," said Leroni.
READ | Three-day strike at Makro ends, but union warns of further action
Regarding the injuries from the November march at Makro Germiston, Saccawu spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete said the union was considering its remedies, including possible legal action.
"We believe we have a strong case and evidence, and we were assured that we were allowed to gather in terms of section 4 of the Gatherings Act," said Tshwete.
Tshwete added that they were also given permission from the municipality and that the demonstration was not an unlawful gathering. In his words: "We didn't even go inside the premises, we ensured that we were outside."
