Hundreds of members of the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (FAWU) will embark on protected industrial action on Monday 22 February at 09h00 and will be demonstrating outside Ingrain Barloworld ( formerly Tongaat-Hulett's starch division) premises at the Kliprivier, Germiston and Meyerton mills in Gauteng and at the Bellville mills in Cape Town in demand of better wages and working conditions. The dispute arose after parties failed to reach an agreement in terms of the union’s demands as mandated by our members at a CCMA case held on 14 December 2020. Our members at the company’s starch division demand a 15 percent wage increase while the company offers a useless 3,5 percent. Workers also seek a housing allowance, a covid-19 allowance for level 4 and 5, health insurance and an employee share-scheme. Our members were very clear that these demands must assist, raise or complement their standard of living under the difficult conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged lives. In far too many cases, breadwinners have lost their lives.
Workers in the food industry were classified as essential service to feed the nation during the level five Lockdown while we were all struggling to find new ways to deal with this pandemic. Now throughout all those difficult times of stress, fear, and uncertainties in terms of not knowing what will happen with their lives the next day- especially with the virus being all over and extremely contagious, workers had soldiered on in order to ensure that the production of the essential commodity to feed the nation continues and remain stable. Our members did not say that they are not being paid danger allowance, and hence they will not work. They did not say that their lives come first but continued to prioritise their contractual obligation with the employer to produce and feed the nation.
The price of food was rising monthly due to supply and demand dynamics and most of the basic food basket was expensive to the extent that one needs to be selective on what should be in a basket of stable food requirements by the family. This was not the only challenge, transport to ferry workers to and from work has doubled in price, and what worsened the situation was the non-availability of other modes of public transport, which is still a problem even today. Trains are not there to complement the current modes of transport due to infrastructure challenges because of cable theft and vandalism of the rail. The escalating rate of unemployment has complicated the ability of adults to feed their families as most family members have lost their jobs and have to now rely on next of kin who are still employed. For this reason, our members have taken a firm position on what they have demanded from the beginning and being consistent on those demands despite the engagement at the level of CCMA where the commissioner has tried to reconcile both parties in vain. Therefore our demands are a product of a collective decision by all our members employed by Ingrain, they demand significant change in their livelihood as employees of this company.
An online news article titled “Sweet ending for Tongaat- Hulett” reflects that the company has done well for the financial year that ended March 2020 published on 16 August 2020 on www.iol.co.za.
As a result, Tongaat -Hulett directors were rewarded with up to R 37.64 million in cash bonuses for their sterling performance in turning the company around for the agriculture and agri- processing business. This was published in another news article titled “Tongaat Hulett directors rewarded with R37.64 million in cash bonuses” on www.iol.co.za on 28 August 2020.
This in the same year in which the Company is alleging that they are operating under extreme difficult conditions, the very same year in which they allege that the COVID-19 outbreak and the imposed lockdown impacted negatively on their volumes. The very same year in which they claimed that the maize price increase to R3800v per ton, while on the one hand, they contradicted themselves by alleging domestic sales went down with no volume growth. Our members want to know how it was possible then to reward directors handsomely, while workers continued to be offered peanuts after all their hard work and dedication? This includes but is not limited to risking their lives as well as those of their loved one’s by working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the level five lockdown?
Our members strongly reject this situation of not being treated equally by the same employer, but at the same time facing the same environment outside where a basket of food is going up every month, e.g., in January 2021 it was R4 051, and increased by R 48, 78. This is unacceptable to all our members . We are not accepting exploitation of the workers’ class any longer.
For more information kindly call the FAWU General Secretary Mayoyo Mngomezulu on 082 440 4039 or Deputy General Secretary Vuka Chonco on 082 499 5854. Released by FAWU media officer, Dominique Martin - 082 498 5631
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