SACCAWU+strikers+on+Shoprite+collusion+with+Red+Ants

SACCAWU media statement, 8 September 2006
=COLLUSION OF SHOPRITE CHECKERS AND RED ANTS=

SACCAWU is deeply disturbed by the tactics playing themselves in the current dispute relating to wages and other conditions of employment. Whilst we acknowledge the industrial action to be an industrial power play, we are shocked that the company has decided to stretch this beyond an industrial dispute.

From the onset Shoprite Checkers sought to criminalise the strike by pretending that our members were behaving in a violent, undisciplined and distructive manner. Of course this was all an exercise aimed at laying the foundation to deceive the Courts and thereby get a ruling in their favour, which may eventually break the strike. Our members heed the call of leadership not to play into the hands of management but to remain calm and disciplined whilst picketing peacefully. This dealt a blow to the Company’s agenda.

Shoprite Checkers did not give up but came with an alternative strategy of getting its managers and those workers who opted not to go on strike to provoke, harass and intimidate the picketers. When this started happening, the Picket Marshalls and Convenors reported such incidents but the Company pleaded ignorance and effectively rushed to the defence of those who caused conflict, particularly managers and non-strikers. Our members exercised the utmost restraint and this also did not work.

The Company then resorted to using faceless customers, Mall managers and other businesses trading with or closer to Shoprite Checkers. Since this also failed to demoralise pickters, the Company resorted to charging picketers and retrenched. This also did not work!

As we had expected, the Company went to Court to secure an Order against workers through lies and deceit and such Order was granted with a restriction placed on picketers to be 25m away from Shoprite Checkers outlets. The 25m did not demoralise workers and the strike remained effective. Deliberately the Company started setting a selected section of police on Picketers and to precipitate violence and ensure that the picket lines become thinner and thinner everyday.

When this was not working, the Shoprite Checkers resorted to what can easily pass as the dirtiest conduct after Apartheid. Shoprite had sought the services of the notorious and barbaric Red Ants, issuing and arming them with crow-bars to assault, harass and terrorise picketers. As a result many of our members have been assaulted by these Red Ants and some 25 members of the Red Ants were arrested and charged with assault in Khayelitsha. A regional Manager of the Red Ants is said to have confirmed that they were hired by Shoprite Checkers “to protect its stores during the strike by SACCAWU members”, falling short to indicate that they were further ordered to brutalise and even shoot on sight whoever is alleged to be in breach of the strike rules and/or in contempt of Court, as Shoprite Checkers has the judicial authority over Court Orders.

We have noticed that the Red Ants have been deployed by Shoprite Checkers at all its branches and we view this as a deliberate statement to spite workers since the hundreds of thousands paid to this contractor could easily have resolved the wage dispute.

SACCAWU has throughout the strike indicated the Apartheid-style //modus operandi// adopted by Shoprite Checkers including the tendencies similar to those used by the erstwhile notorious Special Branch. And all this was brought to the attention of the Commissioner of Police to no avail. Surprisingly horrendous crimes are escalating unabated whilst Police and Security institutions seem resolute to involve themselves on labour disputes in the process criminalising such disputes / strikes, of course in the payroll of Shoprite Checkers in this instance.

We therefore call on the Ministers of both Safety and Security and Justice to prevail on the situation and bring the perpertrators of violence and attckers of peaceful demostrators to book. We know that the Red Ants are always used by some or other Governmental departments, which may result in leniency towards addressing their conduct but remain hopeful that this will not be the case. Issued by the SACCAWU General Secretary and the Head Office-based Strike Committee**

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