Levels of acrimony have escalated sharply in the Pick ‘n Pay pay strike, amid trade union threats of a consumer boycott against the retail giant.
Pick ‘n Pay CEO Sean Summers has cited a coffin emblazoned with his name and ‘RIPâ€, carried during one of Tuesday’s protest marches, as an example of strikers’ ‘inappropriate and sad behaviourâ€.
In scenes reminiscent of labour upheavals in the 1980s, at least 270 strikers were arrested, police used teargas and the company obtained a court interdict against unlawful picketing.
At the same time, South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) accused managers of having a ‘hidden agenda†to break a lawful strike by manipulating police and the courts.
Last Friday, police were called to at least 10 stores across the country to disperse strikers whose behaviour the company described as ‘unruly and intimidatoryâ€. This took place after the company obtained an interdict from the Labour Court.
An estimated 220 strikers were arrested in the Western Cape and Gauteng, and charged with public violence and trespassing. By Tuesday, all had been released — some on R3 000 bail. On Wednesday 51 strikers were arrested in Somerset West.
This week picketing rules became the flashpoint. Although both sides had agreed that 20 strikers could picket in pre-arranged locations at stores — the remainder needed to be 500m away in line with the court interdict — Pick ‘n Pay has sent several letters to the union alleging breaches.
Senior Saccawu officials see this as a strategy to prepare the ground for further legal action.
Summers said that while Pick ‘n Pay was ‘obviously very unhappy†with how police had acted in some cases, their response had been sparked by workers’ conduct ‘bordering on mob ruleâ€. Strikers have not only blocked store entrances and intimidated customers at various stores, but assaulted managers and damaged property.
The company ‘reserves its right, post-strike, to take any action against employeesâ€, he added. Pick ‘n Pay has retained closed-circuit television footage of disruptions at stores; and several customers have laid charges.
The high emotions which have permeated the strike — the second in 11 years — clearly surfaced at the Liberty Promenade shopping mall in Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats. There, several workers accused the store manager of referring to workers as ‘illiterate kaffirs†while pointing out individuals for tear-gassing and arrest by police. A woman, who asked not to be named, confirmed she had laid charges at the local police station following last Friday’s incident.
The store manager in question refused to comment and referred all queries to Pick ‘n Pay head office. Summers said the manager categorically denied having made such remarks and would confirm this under oath.
Asked to explain the acrimonious nature of the strike, Summers replied: ‘I can’t answer that.†Pick ‘n Pay had a solid reputation as one of the best employers in the country and has the support of customers. On Tuesday alone, 300 customers had volunteered to work at shops to fill the gap left by strikers, he added.
Summers dismissed his salary as irrelevant to the pay dispute, but for Mitchells Plain workers it was a key consideration. ‘My earnings are pocket money for Sean Summers’ children,†insisted one.
By Wednesday evening both sides were locked in talks at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. By then calls for a consumer boycott had emerged as a possible next step in the strike action; Cosatu is understood to support this move.