OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 10.15pm.
A NATIONWIDE strike by retail group Edgars workers moved into the second on Tuesday, with an increasing number of branches being forced to close their doors as the strike gathered momentum. By Tuesday afternoon the group had closed 11 branches and subsidiaries.
The workers demand that management lift a wage freeze for the 1998/99 financial year, but the Edgars group says no, pointing to a 28% drop in profits. South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers’ Union workers, however, are saying that the remaining 72% profit was sufficient to warrant an above-inflation wage increase.
Already the strike is taking its toll on the group’s financial resources and profits with the Johannesburg central business district branches losing in excess of R1,5-million in profits and damages on the first day of the strike alone.
On Tuesday striking workers toyi-toyied in front of outlets and the mood was less confrontational than on Monday when four people were injured by rubber bullets in a tussle with police in Johannesburg.
Shopsteward co-ordinator Piet Manjela denied allegations that the strikers had damaged property worth more than R700000 at Jet Store in Johannesburg. “[Edgars management] is just trying to play a game of numbers to tarnish the image of the union. We are not worried about that and we will continue to mobilise until [they] come back to the table,” Manjela said.
* International rating agency Duff & Phelps has meanwhile downgraded Edgars long-term domestic currency rating from A+ to A. The agency’s corporate analyst, Grant Kelly, said Edgars’ latest rating took into account the recent deterioration in the group’s financial risk profile, which was compounded by the on-going changes in consumer spending patterns. In addition, Edgars’ exposure to the weak domestic retailing environment, as well as the poor performance of its Zimbabwean operation, were further areas of concern.