Thousands of Makro staff will go on strike across the country on Friday following a deadlock over a wage dispute that has dragged on for the past eight months.
South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete said the union had issued Makro with a strike notice on Wednesday.
“Due to the failure to resolve the dispute over wages and working conditions at Makro, Saccawu yesterday issued a 48-hour notice to go on a 10-day strike at this company in all plants nationally,” Tshwete said.
The union had been locked in a “protracted dispute” with Makro since June 2022 and “all attempts to resolve the dispute, including sessions at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), had failed.
“At the core of the unresolved dispute is the attitude of the company towards undermining collective bargaining. The company has placed conditions that are unacceptable in their latest offer, which is that the union has to abandon the bargaining unit. This effectively means that workers at this establishment are to be left unrepresented by any union,” she said.
“This has left the union with no choice but to defend collective bargaining at this institution. This dispute is no longer about wages and working conditions but a fight for workers at this company to prevent the erosion of the hard-won rights they have acquired through collective bargaining over the years,” she said.
Tshwete added that Saccawu would hold marches and pickets at Makro premises throughout the country.
“The union is also busy galvanising other stores within the Massmart Group and retail sector to join in the strike through a secondary or sympathy strike. These companies include Game Stores, Fruitspot, Builders Warehouse, Rhino, Shield and Jumbo,” she said.
The union is also calling on all customers to boycott Makro and suspend any purchases until the workers and employer have come to some agreement.
Saccawu has submitted the following demands to the company:
• Across-the-board increase of R900.00 or 12%, whichever is the greater
• Minimum wage R8 000.00
• An improvement of commission from 10% on margin to 20% margin for a salesperson
• Increase in Category 3 working hours from 160 to 195 per month
• 13th cheque to be made separate from the December salary
• Uniform allowance R100.00
• Moratorium on retrenchments for the duration of the agreement.
Massmart spokesperson Brian Leroni said on Friday afternoon that the strike had not been widely supported.
“We estimate that around 1 300 union members are involved in picketing at our Makro stores. No Builders or Game union members have supported the Makro strike action," Leroni said.
