FAWU States Alcohol Ban Is At The Expense of Workers

Food and Allied Workers' Union (F.A.W.U.) notes with major dissatisfaction the announcement to immediately ban alcohol by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 12 July 2020 .

FAWU represents the majority of workers in the liquor industry ranging from beer, wine, spirit ciders and the entire value chain,  which in many ways will be adversely affected by the announcement. FAWU members are outraged about this decision as it degrade them as human beings with families who should have been given an opportunity to prepare before complying with the regulations.

This sudden and shocking announcement with immediate effect meant that our members had to at night engage employers to solicit an understanding of not going to work on the following day as workers may be accused of being absent. It meant that those who are night shift workers had to be released to go home at night and it is left for them to make sure they are fully paid, that is if there is transport at night. It meant that those who are truck drivers doing night shift are declared to have broken the law while on the road just after the address of the President.  

On the larger scope of this decision, it means those who are surviving through selling beers in townships and have used the larger part of the money they have to stock beers or other type of alcohol products must see to it as to how they will survive as their last cents would have otherwise been used to buy food for the period of alcohol ban , which they do not know the duration of.

This goes to show how irrational this decision was for having not given people an opportunity to prepare for the decision of the government. The decision was announced with no meaningful consultation with all stakeholders, including unions. Instead, the government only announced the reasons for government to ban alcohol which, on its own, has been questionable as we believe authorities would not have successfully substantiated its reasoning, on the same address by the President.  There was nothing to address on the implications and suffering of workers, in particular those who are employed in the sector. The process towards banning alcohol was therefore a one-sided approach with no regard for the effect on our members and  the industry as a whole.

At one stage, FAWU had to protect its members in the same sector when employers wanted to attack them to reduce their salaries by 10% per employee every month. Workers should not be the ones to fund any shortfall because of this reckless decision of  government while it remains silent on the impact this will have on workers. On the other hand, employers (especially multinational companies) are expected to have had contingency plans during the period within which the businesses were allowed to operate. The government must therefore play its role to mitigate deficiencies that shall be faced by the people of South Africa who survive by selling alcohol.

Since distribution is also banned, some companies do not transport alcohol directly to the market. Some employers may still do primary distribution from manufacturing departments to the depot/warehouse and members have already raised their fears about the  risk of being detained by law enforcement agencies because  this announcement was implemented with immediate effect.

Out of the lowest earners,  one worker supports a family of more than five people and for them it remains the only source of income. The loss of each job contributes to many members of the society being subjected to hunger.

This decision came at a time when government is very much aware that the country had  already exceeded the 10.2 million unemployed persons who already struggle to survive and are now joined by thousands more who are being retrenched. The growth of the unemployment figure is a sure invitation to respond to socio-economic challenges. One of the most important challenge of the government is to accept that the current economic policies do not respond to the crisis of unemployment, poverty, and inequalities.

All decisions by government are by law in the form of regulations as pronounced. On the other hand, government is afraid to put a moratorium to employers on retrenchments or salary and benefit cuts since there is also no law that relating to COVID-19 and retrenchment.  There is nothing lawful or justify dismissing workers on a permanent basis while businesses will continue to operate after lockdown or on some of the other levels unless it is closing for other reasons. The government’s silence on ways to protect the jobs in this sector, is assisting bosses to retrench thousands of workers to be replaced by labour brokers after COVID-19 era and goes against the grain of government’s resolve to stimulate job creation.

 

There is no law that states that the lowest paid workers should bear the full brunt of COVID-19 challenges. It is amongst the reasons why retrenchments never end, because the low salary of the majority of workers combined with given retrenchment, is too low to even cover the business costs that led to the retrenchment in the first place, whereas senior managers  who are not retrenched yet, are not displaced by law in these processes.

The revenue accumulated by the multinational companies in the alcohol business and other big businesses in the sector and in the interim after the alcohol companies were unbanned, is far higher than a small fraction of taverns and bottles stores in townships. This means the small largely black owned businesses are the one that will be hit hardest as they suffer major financial losses and the government has taken no initiative or saying nothing about them.

On the 24^th May 2020 and despite all other calls we have been making for the government to respond on a growing illicit economy, as far back as 2016, nothing thus far has been publicized by the government to respond to this call. This call, is a direct response to protect the lives of the very same people in South Africa the government is expected to protect. Illicit trade does affect this sector particularly in wine and spirits, among others. The billions the government is losing would have otherwise mitigated to fund quality PPE for health care workers amongst other requirements for the protection  of lives if illicit trade is fought against. This can be achieved only if the government accepts our call among other initiatives and respond to this crime. 

FAWU DEMANDS THE FOLLOWING FROM EMPLOYERS AND GOVERNMENT:

•   Government must involve unions and all stakeholders before any decision is taken and such a decision be accommodative to all stakeholders affected;
•  The government to issue a moratorium on retrenchments, job cuts, salary and  related benefits cuts;
•  Employers must ensure workers in non-brewing and non-alcohol jobs are working in safe working environment;
•  Employers to apportion their revenue that the businesses were accessing during their operation or any funds that were prepared to fund curbing the spread of corona virus for that package to be given to members;
• The government to pronounce on assisting the informal economy in the sector;
•   The government to come up with a comprehensive multi-discipline program to address illicit trading in the country.  

For more information, feel free to contact FAWU General Secretary Mngomezulu Mayoyo on 082 440 4039

Released by FAWU Media Liaison Officer Dominique Martin 082 498 5631