A wage strike by employees of Makro entered its fourth day, with no indication that a settlement would be reached soon.
The South African Commercial Catering And Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) is sticking to a 12% wage increase demand while Massmart, which owns Makro is offering 4.5%.
The union’s spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete said the strike action was scheduled to continue for 10 days.
He said the union had been in a protracted dispute with Makro since June, and all attempts to resolve the dispute including sessions at the CCMA had failed.
Tshwete accused the employer of trying to “undermine” collective bargaining processes.
“The company has placed conditions that are unacceptable in their latest offer including a demand for the union to abandon the bargaining unit. This effectively means that workers at this establishment are to be left unrepresented by any union,” added Tshwete.
He said the dispute was no longer about wages and working conditions but a fight for workers’ right to belong and be represented by a union, which was on the brink of being eroded.
“These are hard won rights the workers have acquired through collective bargaining over the years,” Tshwete said.
Workers at Makro stores in Cape Gate, Ottery and Montague Gardens also joined the nationwide strike.
The union’s demands included:
∎ An across-the-board increase of R900 or 12%, whichever is the greater.
∎ A minimum wage of R8 000.
∎ An improvement of commission from 10% on margin to 20% margin for a sales person.
∎ An increase in category 3 working hours from 160 to 195 per month.
∎ Bonus payments to be made separate from the December salary.
∎ Uniform allowance of R100.
The workers also included a moratorium on retrenchments for the duration of the agreement.
However, Massmart argued that the 2022 negotiation cycle had closed and the “new" demands for a two-year moratorium on retrenchments, 12% salary increase; and sales commission could therefore not be included.
“Because we have closed the 2022 negotiation cycle all these demands will now be handled in the 2023 wage negotiation cycle, which begins in March.
“We will however process the 4.5% 2022 increases, plus backpay for Makro employees who choose to accept the company offer,” said spokesperson, Brian Leroni.