Although the FTWO team closely followed the recent sugar industry strike and its relatively prompt settlement, we appear to have been mistaken in our presumption that all was now sweet again in the sugar sector.
But reading a piece by Nick Paul in the Trade Intelligence newsletter Trade Tatler, we found that a sour taste still remained on quite a few workers’ taste buds.
With information gleaned from Business Day, Nick wrote: “We haven’t covered industrial action for a while and after the flurry of results and interims of late, things have quietened down somewhat.
“So here’s one: Despite the fact that Tongaat Hulett reached an accommodation some weeks ago with FAWU, hundreds of that union’s members are still out on strike on the grimy light industrial heartland of Clairwood, south of Durban.
“Among the terms the wildcatters are demanding are an 11% pay increase, an R800 housing allowance, a reduction of the working week from 43 hours to 40 hours without losing benefits, and that thousands of contract workers be employed full-time.
“The current deal caps increases at 10% for the lowest-paid workers. The workers are barred from picketing outside the premises, but meet daily to strategise at a local park.
“Comment: Hell of a thing, and an indication of the desperation some South Africans feel at the wrong end of the Gini coefficient.”
FTWO Note: To save you rushing off a Google enquiry, the Gini is basically a measure of income equality/inequality, and SA rates at the global top end of income inequality.
When sugar isn’t so sweet
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