Saccawu, Makro brace for tough wage talks

A fresh 10-day strike by the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) at Makro has heightened tensions between the parties ahead of wage negotiations set to start in March.

Saccawu served Makro with a notice of intention to strike on Wednesday and started with pickets at Makro stores around the country on Friday. The union is looking to mobilise up to 15,000 workers to embark on industrial action at Makro and other Massmart operations.

Massmart, owned by US retail giant Walmart, also operates Game and Builders.

The wage dispute endured for the better part of 2022, and a last-ditch effort at breaking the deadlock at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) failed this week. This was the second time talks at the CCMA have collapsed since December.

The union and the Massmart subsidiary have been locking horns for close to a year over Saccawu’s wage demands, which include an across-the-board increase of R900 or 12%, whichever is greater, a minimum wage of R8,000 a month, and a 13th cheque separate from the December salary.

The union has added a demand that Makro place a moratorium on retrenchments for two years. These demands will now be handled in the 2023 wage negotiation cycle, which begins in March. Massmart said the union was more interested in punishing the company than reaching a deal.

Massmart vice-president of corporate affairs Brian Leroni told Business Times that Saccawu had added a two-year moratorium on retrenchments and a doubling of sales commissions from 10% to 20% to its demands.

“Makro has an exceptionally well-trained team of temporary employees who have gained valuable experience and confidence as a result of Saccawu’s repeated strike action at Makro during the past four months,” said Leroni.

As such, Leroni said, Makro did not anticipate trading disruption during the strike action as a previous wave of demonstrations during Black Friday last year had not caused any significant disruptions to the business.

“It’s clear that Saccawu is intent on pushing the parties further apart rather than trying to find common ground. This appears to be the result of infighting in the union and is consistent with the incoherent and bad faith approach that the union has taken throughout the 2022 negotiation process,” Leroni said.

He said Makro would process 2022 increases plus back pay for Makro employees who had chosen to accept the company’s 4.5% offer from last year instead of relying on Saccawu and its demands. He said nearly 1,000 union members had resigned from the union to accept the company’s offer.

Saccawu spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete told Business Times that the union’s strike had the support of Cosatu, the SACP and the South African National Civic Organisation.

“Things are proceeding very well with no commotion and no clashes as yet. The management have not reached out. Their response was to issue propaganda to workers telling them to not go on strike and saying the union does not have workers’ interests at heart. We have been going like this since October last year. At the CCMA they showed no desire to resolve the dispute and we will intensify our action against them, and are considering escalating this internationally to Walmart,” said Tshwete.

He said Saccawu was talking to international trade union federations at a global level, including UNI Global Union, to consider escalating its mobilisation and putting pressure on Walmart, including a boycott of the global giant.

Independent labour analyst Andrew Levy said Saccawu had a track record of long and damaging strikes, but Makro was known to be a tough negotiator during wage talks, and that this wage impasse would likely end in the employer’s favour.

“Ultimately all strikes come to an end, and they will always end in concessions. Frequently it is a question of who makes the most concessions. If the union is far away from the employer and its demand is not supported by other settlements in the marketplace, then it puts itself in a corner,” said Levy.

Unions needed to take a view of the employer as a credible party, he said.

“South African unions have not reached the maturity or security to go to their members and tell them honestly when they are not going to get a certain demand. They also tend to fan the flames. We know from history that Makro is a tough bargainer,” Levy said.

He said in a six-week strike everyone would lose, and in the end a settlement would feature a more realistic figure that could have easily been reached without a strike in the first place.

The union said it had no choice but to “defend collective bargaining” from Makro management, which it accused of trying to undermine the union’s standing in the company. Saccawu said it would hold marches and pickets at Makro establishments around the country.

Despite the union’s aspirations to have up to 15,000 members participate in its 10-day strike, Massmart says more and more members have approached the company requesting to leave the union.