COSATU+calls+for+Shoprite+boycott,+Sapa,+IOL

IOL, Johannesburg, August 11 2006 at 05:55PM
=Cosatu calls for Shoprite boycott=

A countrywide strike at Shoprite Checkers entered its second day on Friday, with trade union leaders calling for a boycott of all the retailer's stores.

"Cosatu is calling on its members not to buy from Shoprite until the strike is resolved," Congress of SA Trade Unions regional chairman Sdumo Dlamini told a 2000-strong crowd of protesters in Durban.

He told the group, who earlier marched down West Street amid a heavy police presence, that asking for a R300 a month increase was "not unreasonable".

Shoprite declined to comment on the call for the boycott, saying the management was still assessing the situation.

"We cannot comment at this stage because we did not even know about the union federation's call until now," said Sarita van Wyk, the retailer's spokesperson.

She said Shoprite had not hold any talks with workers since negotiations deadlocked on Monday night.

By Friday afternoon the two parties were still at loggerheads over a pay increase.

The SA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) has demanded an increase of R300 or 10 percent, whichever is greater, and improved working conditions.

The employer has offered R265.

The union said the company used "too many" part-time workers, who on average were employed 26 hours work a week and paid R982 a month.

"We are going to fight for what is due to the workers until the end," said Thoko Mchunu, the union's negotiator.

Thousands of Saccawu members took to the streets on Thursday in a national strike against the retailer.

Saccawu began with lunch time pickets on July 18, but that did not help them reach an agreement with the company.

Mchunu said the protected strike involved 35 000 union members and thousands of non-members who supported the union.

Of Shoprite's 52 000 employees, 35 000 were Saccawu members and were participating in the national strike, she said.

On Friday morning striking workers handed a memorandum to the KwaZulu-Natal regional managing director of Shoprite at its flagship store in West Street.

The Shoprite store was closed for business, but its House and Home store across the street was still open.

Meanwhile, in Johannesburg a handful of striking Shoprite employees at the retailer's outlets in Rosettenville prevented shoppers from entering the premises.

Chanting slogans outside the retailer's doors, they blew vuvuzelas in the faces of customers wanting to enter, blocked their way and urged them not to buy from Shoprite.

The strikers carried placards reading: "We are working like dogs but getting peanuts like monkeys".

In Southgate they sang: "My mother was a kitchen girl, my father a garden boy that's why I'm so stubborn".

In the Rosettenville Shoprite store only one cashier was working.

Only five of more than 20 tills were open in the Southgate branch.

In the Checkers store in Emmarentia consumers moved in and out without any disturbances, although the strikers urged them to buy from Pick 'n Pay, Spar and Woolworths instead. – Sapa


 * From: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=qw1155310381189B241**

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