SACCAWU to take strike action to US Embassy

The South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) will on Wednesday embark on a secondary strike action and picket outside the US embassy in Pretoria where they will also hand over a memorandum.

The union has called the dismissal of 600 Makro workers unlawful. The union says Makro dismissed the workers after its protected strike action since June last year.

It says the retail giant has threatened to dismiss a further 300 workers after last month’s march and pickets in three stores and will hand out a memorandum.

About 8 000 SACCAWU members picketed outside various Makro stores across the country for 10 days.

SACCAWU President Louise Thipe says, “Walmart originates from US and we will then target the embassy of that country so that they take the message to the very organisation that is Walmart. At some point, we might even talk about how the history of Walmart lands in our country and surely, all these actions would at some point take us back to that original player who then accepted Walmart into the country.”

SACCAWU has accused Makro management of placing workers on suspension with the sole intention to dismiss them.

It has lodged unfair dismissal and suspension with the CCMA to reverse the current suspensions and says this is unlawful and that they will step up their fight for better wages for their members.

SACCAWU has been at loggerheads with Makro management for over 12 months.

The union’s Deputy General Secretary Mduduzi Mbongwe says workers have been unfairly dismissed.

“Normally, you can’t be dismissed without a hearing. You must be given an opportunity to state your case, and the employer must elaborate and prove their case in a fair hearing. Unfortunately, this time they did not handle the process. They handpicked at Massmart and gave instructions to dismiss. And so, workers were not given a fair hearing. The CCMA has the right to intervene in strikes that have dragged and this was identified as one of those strikes because of its impact on the economy.”

VIDEO | Saccawu determined to fight for better wages and working conditions at Makro:

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SACCAWU is also demanding a 12% increase or R900 salary increase across the board. It wants a minimum wage of R9000 per month, an improved commission from 10% to 20%, for sales persons and a uniform allowance.

“Increase in Category 3 working hours from 160 to 190 per month. The 13th cheque to be paid separate from the December salary, uniform allowance of R100 rands per month and a moratorium on retrenchments. We know what retrenchments have cost.”

Meanwhile, Massmart says the union’s demands are unrealistic in a context of the Group posting a net loss of R2 billion.

Meanwhile, Massmart says the union’s demands are unrealistic in a context of the Group posting a net loss of R2 billion.

In a statement, Massmart has highlighted its financial constraints, and says it showed the union the importance of conserving jobs and avoiding retrenchments. It says it would like to give workers the increases they are demanding but cannot afford to do so.