Key economic sectors looked set for further disruption on Thursday as thousands of workers braced for national strikes on pay.
More than 20 000 workers at Pick ’n Pay belonging to the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) and about 3 600 members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) at South African Airways (SAA) will withdraw their labour on Friday, the two unions said.
Also, the South African Municipal Workers Union said its members would return to the streets on Wednesday after the pay talks between the union and employers failed to produce any result.
The Pick ’n Pay strike will be the first in about 10 years. Saccawu is demanding 12% or a R400 monthly increase, while Pick ’n Pay is offering a 7,9% increase.
Mduduzi Mbongwe, Saccawu deputy general secretary, said the company’s final offer was ”an insult to workers, given that the company has performed very well over the past few years”.
Mbongwe said Pick ’n Pay’s trading profit increased by 24,1% from R789-million to R933,6-million, between 2004 and 2005. ”The company gave chief executive Sean Summers a 19% raise, while his annual salary package amounts to R12-million. Workers, who contribute equally to the profitability of the company through their sweat and blood, are given peanuts.”
Summers said he was surprised by the strike, as Pick ’n Pay was one of the best payers in the South African retail industry.
”Our offer is both fair and above what has already been agreed at one retailer and demanded from another. Pick ’n Pay’s total employment package is one of the most competitive in South Africa, with a very wide range of employee benefits .
He added that the union movement had been ”particularly vocal” on job losses in the textile industry, while Pick ’n Pay had created 4 000 new jobs last year.
”This year, more stores will be opened, which means more jobs. Job security remains our top priority, which is why we have not retrenched a single employee in our 38-year history,” Summers said.
Satawu, whose 3 600 SAA members comprise cabin crew and ground staff, is demanding an 8% wage increase, while the company is offering 5%.
Satawu spokesperson Ronnie Mamba said the company last year offered workers a 6% increase despite a huge deficit. ”This year, it made a profit of more than a billion rand. It just doesn’t add up.”