SACCAWU+on+Metcash+and+COSATU+Mass+Action



=SACCAWU Press statement on Metcash massive jobs shedding and COSATU’s 27th June Mass Action= SACCAWU in its preliminary warm up to the COSATU rolling mass action on jobs and poverty, will stage a March to the Head Office of Metro Cash & Carry Africa (Pty) Ltd. This is a sequel of a protracted dispute over massive retrenchments of more than nine hundred (±900) workers targeted for retrenchments with immediate effect by Metcash. During the past decade or so this company has been involved in a systematic jobs shedding, through what it termed restructuring; with so many of its outlets country-wide being willy-nilly closed; whilst it continued to spread its tentacles across the continent and in some parts of Asia-Pacific, like Australia, Hong Kong etc. And when COSATU and SACP raise the subtle but systematic investment boycott/strike by the South African companies, nobody believes; instead a hue and cry and labels to the effect that such sentiments are due to lack of understanding of how the economy works as well as labour market rigidity, thus a threat to the socalled potential foreign investment. Even those of foreign origin investing domestically have done so, merely as Capital intensive. Hence the debate of institutionally reversing the hard won workers’ gains through the socalled dual or two tier labour market is the non starter, as same is a recipe for further impoverishment of the already toiling workers and their families; let alone the potential of pitting the young against the old workers, as was with “Whites” versus “Blacks” through the Apartheid Jobs Reservation Policy. We will on the same day simultaneously march to submit a memorandum of protest to Financial Services Board on their reckless conduct of allowing unchecked protraction of their initiated curatorship of our Provident Fund ,whilst same deteriorates and erodes the base of benefits of our members who constitute 99% of the said Provident; albeit the increasing Risk Premiums and Risk; with no match/correlation to employer contributions who remain stagnant at the absence of a collective bargaining agent. This, we will do, by splitting our marches into two different groups for these targeted Parties; subsequent to which we will join COSATU marches to the targeted Parties and/or Retailers. Whilst many Retailers see this as SACTWU (backed by COSATU) matter, we do not necessarily agree with them as they, like massive tariffs reduction by Government, manufacturing and textile employers continued to shed jobs locally; whilst aggressively investing beyond our borders, albeit at the expense of different countries’ workers. The current industry economic and/or business practices merely promote escalation of casualisation whilst eroding the permanent work and job security. Essentially, whilst all view this industry as the rapid growing industry, in contrast the said growth is manifested with the decline of permanent employment and instead translating into massive casualisation, jobs of poor quality and insecurity. The industry in the race for global competitiveness has been dominated by acquisitions, mergers and take overs coupled with massive liquidations (most of which are deliberate and/or engineered), at times to stifle the same competition and in the process close the developing small businesses; with all these being synonymous with massive job losses and workers’ displacement. The company, Metcash Africa Trading was established through a management buy-out that occured in 2004. The management buy out was as a result of the two major shareholders, being Stanbic and Rand Merchant Bank, not being comfortable with the company listing separately within the JSE. The situation resulted in an agreement between the parties that the directors should raise an amount of R1.3billion to buy out Stanbin and Rand Merchant Bank. Since the MBO and before, the company has always been involved in restructuring processes. And this had resulted in more than two thousand (2000) employees having been affected by retrenchments. The company issued the union with a notice of retrenchment of nine hundred and thirty nine (939) SACCAWU members on the 21st of April 2005. Despite the fact that there is a moratorium on Retrenchments Agreement entered into between the parties dated the 27th August 2004. In terms of the said agreement the company cannot contemplate any retrenchments until 30th of June 2005. Irrespective of the agreement on moratorium the company maintains that there is nothing, in fact in law, that stops their consultations with the union with regards to their initial intention to retrench 939 SACCAWU members by the 23rd of June 2005. The company has currently outsourced one thousand five hundred 1500 Jobs to five (5) different Labour Contractors. The said Labour Contractors that the Company has outsourced 1500 jobs to, ill-treat employees and ensure that they, (workers) do not have the right to join the Union. It has been the Company Practice or unpronounced Policy to retrench full-time employees and replace them with Labour contractors. As the said Labour contractors do not enjoy any benefits such as Pension Fund, Medical Aid, Maternity Leave etc. the Union (SACCAWU) has vowed that it is going to do everything in its power to stop this threat of further job losses at this Company. More than 1000 SACCAWU members from this company, including those from other Companies within the Industry will be marching to Head Office on the 27th of June 2005, as part of the COSATU protest action to register the plight of the said members who might be affected by retrenchments. Retrenchments that will, as they always do, have devastating consequential effects, not only to these workers, but chains of their extended families within the ever growing reservoir and/or army of the unemployed and poverty stricken working class members of the Society. _______________ Bones Skulu General Secretary P/S: for any further information, please do not hesitate to contact; Bones Skulu, Amos Mothapo (SACCAWU President and fulltime Metcash Shopsteward) or Mduduzi Mbongwe – Deputy General Secretary, at the following numbers:- During working hours: Landline: (011) 403 8333 Fax lines: (011) 403 0309 (group) 403 1122 (direct) After hours: Mobiles : 082 336 5015 (Bones) 082 336 5240 (Amos) 082 336 5146 (Mdu) **
 * The Background to Metcash Debacle/Dispute**
 * Issued by SACCAWU