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- Massmart and Saccawu are at loggerheads over wages and other demands that have resulted in four months of periodic strike action by some workers.
- The Walmart-owned company says the periodic strike activity has not disrupted trading at its Makro stores, and recent action, if anything, will increase productivity.
- Saccawu says Massmart and police are colluding to prevent members picketing at certain stores, but they deny this.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Massmart and South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) are at loggerheads again, with the two on Thursday trading barbs over the latest strike the union has embarked on at the Walmart-owned group's Makro branches.
The union and Massmart have been engaged in a nearly year-long acrimonious battle over wage increases and other demands for staff at Makro, which comes even as Saccawu reached agreement with the company for a 4.5% increase for employees at Game and Builders. In recent months the union has embarked on periodic industrial action, with the latest 10-day strike beginning this last Friday with protests across Makro sites.
Negotiations between Saccawu and Massmart have lasted for over 10 months and have reached a stalemate following a recent collapse in rounds of talks between the groups in December and January this year at the Commission for Conciliation, Arbitration and Mediation (CCMA).
Massmart corporate affairs executive Brian Leroni said that even though the Makro negotiation cycle had closed, Saccawu had tabled new demands, including a two-year moratorium on retrenchments. This was over and above its primary demands for a 12% wage increase and doubling of sales commission from 10% to 20%.
Leroni estimated that around 1 300 union members were involved in picketing at Massmart’s Makro stores, saying "no Builders or Game union members have supported the Makro strike action". Saccawu has said in previous strikes that it expected 15 000 people to participate.
Leroni said that since the "start of the 10-day strike on Friday last week, trading at the Makro stores had been without disruption".
"Makro has an exceptionally well-trained team of backup staff who have gained valuable experience and confidence as the result of Saccawu’s repeated strike action during the past four months. As such, we do not anticipate trading disruption in the event of Saccawu’s further strike action and [we] will, in line with our recent experience, likely see an increase in productivity."
Leroni said it was clear that Saccawu was intent on "pushing the parties further apart rather than on trying to find common ground".
He said this appeared to be the "result of in-fighting within the union and is consistent with the incoherent and bad faith approach that the union has taken throughout the 2022 negotiation process".
Massmart has also reported that previous strikes had garnered minority support within its workforce, and not disrupted operations.
READ | Secondary strike fails to rock Makro owner as employees show 'zero interest'
Saccawu claims collusion
Saccawu, meanwhile, has accused the police and Makro of being in collusion to curtail the current striking workers, saying officers in various parts of Gauteng were unlawfully prohibiting striking workers at Makro to picket or hold gatherings outside various Makro stores including those that are in Wonderboom, Silver Lakes and Alberton.
The union said this was being done using the incorrect interpretation of the 1993 Gatherings Act, as well as the Labour Relations Act at the behest of Makro management.
"Saccawu has met all the legal requirements of the Gatherings Act by submitting its application to gather outside the premises of Makro well in advance in order for members of the public and sympathetic organisations to support the striking workers in their demands.
"They have seen it fit to prohibit the pickets in the three stores without giving any tangible reason. We as Saccawu view this as a deliberate attempt to squash what is deemed a protected and lawful strike so that it does not have an impact on Makro."
The union said that Section 69 of the Labour Relations Act affords Saccawu the right to hold gatherings outside Makro premises.
"Saccawu is calling upon police not to be pawns that are used by Makro management in prohibiting what is deemed a protected and peaceful strike by Makro workers."
Saccawu said that through its lawyers it had written to the Ekurhuleni and Tshwane municipalities to "contain this conduct" by the police so that the strike can resume without so-called unlawful interference, adding it was prepared to take the matter to court if necessary.
The union said Makro had experienced a significant decrease in "service excellence" because of a refusal of suppliers to stock their shelves due to the ongoing strike, and that this was "why they now are using police that are not tuned to managing labour dispute gatherings to prohibit lawful pickets".
Massmart denials
Massmart denied this. "This perspective is inaccurate and untrue," said Leroni. "One reason that we have been given for lower service levels has been disruption caused by load shedding. Makro in-stock levels are currently at around 92% ... we target 95%." There were some issues with supplier's being out-of-stock, he said.
"These claims are entirely incorrect and mischievous."
As to the allegations that police were stopping picketers, Leroni said the protest of striking employees was governed by picketing rules that have been agreed with the union and was not aware of a single instance during the most recent strike action in which the South African Police Service (SAPS) or any other law enforcement organisation had prevented workers from picketing.
He said the allegation of collusion between Makro and the police was without merit and an affront to the SAPS.
Contacted for further comment about this, Saccawu declined.
Police response
SAPS referred News24 to the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metro police departments for comment.
Tshwane Metro Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said Saccawu had originally been given permission via a court order and agreement with the CMMA to picket within certain designated areas in the parking lots at Makro premises but not at the main entrances to the stores.
But last Friday Saccawu had approached the metro police seeking to protest right outside the entrances of the stores, which was not allowed in terms of the agreement and court order. Because of this the metro police refused to grant them permission to do this, other than in the designated areas originally agreed upon.
Ekurhuleni Metro Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Kelebogile Thepa confirmed on Friday that it had received applications from Saccawu to picket at select Makro stores from 27 January for 10 days, adding that "everything has run smoothly" and that no officers had prevented anyone from picketing in the designated areas.
She said the metro police had a presence at the Makro sites in Carnival City and Alberton to ensure that demonstrations are conducted in a peaceful and not a violent manner. She said the metro police are also supported by the SAPS.
"I need to reiterate our members of the FRU [first responder unit] who are deployed at Makro Carnival City are trained in crowd management."
She said that according to metro police reports Alberton had been without incident.
'Disappointed, frustrated and angry'
Joseph Adriaanse, regional deputy chairperson of Saccawu in the Western Cape, and a Makro worker for over 34 years, said that following the CCMA process, the union had "compromised" and decreased its previous demand to 7.5% and an R630 wage increase, including a decrease in demands related to the commission for sales.
Previously, the union demanded a 12% of R900 increase, a 20% increase in the commission of sales and a moratorium on retrenchments. Adriaanse said wage negotiations have left members disappointed, frustrated and angry.
The cost of electricity and water, inflation, the impact of load shedding and the rise in retail prices have all been cited as reasons that workers should have an increase in wages, he says.
"People are suffering and we [as workers] feel the pain.
"We are not going to back down until they are able to renegotiate," said Adriaanse, who added that if negotiations remain at a stalemate, workers could go on an indefinite strike.
Janita Morris, a shop steward at Makro, echoed sentiments that workers are experiencing financial struggles. "The money which we need is to help us get to work and provide for our families," she said.
However, Leroni says that the union does not have any interest in conducting realistic discussions required for a loss-making business such as Massmart and has labelled the ongoing negotiations as "political powerplays caused by unrealistic expectations amongst their membership".
"Massmart has always been open to working with the union to look for creative solutions within the realities and constraints of our financial performance, and with the objective to protect jobs," said Leroni. Saccawu members at Makro have received above-inflation increases of 8% over the past three years, he said.
