Nearly 1 000 striking Shoprite workers marched down Durban’s West Street on Friday morning amid a heavy police presence.
The workers were due to hand over a memorandum to the KwaZulu-Natal regional managing director of Shoprite at its flagship store in West Street. The Shoprite store in West Street was closed for business. However, its House and Home store across the street was still open.
On Thursday, the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) said thousands of its members took to the streets.
Saccawu’s negotiator Thoko Mchunu said the protected strike involved 35 000 union members and thousands of non-members who supported the union. The industrial action came after talks between Saccawu and Shoprite management, aimed at averting the strike, failed on Monday night.
Saccawu began with lunchtime pickets on July 18, but no agreement with the company was reached.
”We are demanding an increment of R300 or 10%, whichever is greater, and improved working conditions, but the employers only offered R265,” said Mchunu.
The union said the company used ”too many” part-time workers, who on average worked only 26 hours a week for R982.
Of Shoprite’s 52 000 employees, 35 000 were Saccawu members and were participating in the national strike,” Mchunu said. — Sapa