Shoe firm employees on strike
THOUSANDS of shoemakers have downed tools, demanding an 8% pay rise across the board in the footwear industry, the latest sector to be hit by industrial action in South Africa.
The strike by members of the National Union of Leather and Allied Workers (Nulaw) has affected 164 footwear employers.
Hardest hit in Nelson Mandela Bay are firms such as The Little Slipper Company, Bagshaw Footwear and other small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Bay union official Charles Pullen said the workers had embarked on the strike action on Monday after talks with employers deadlocked.
The union is also demanding:
- That employers create a special fund to retrain workers who have been retrenched, with their jobs taken over by machinery (technology);
- Two days annual bonus;
- A clampdown on all illegal imports in the footwear industry; and
- Employers must fast-track setting up a reference pricing system for the footwear industry, under the auspices of the SA Revenue Service. This would help customs officials at ports of entry deal with under-invoicing, and stop counterfeit and illegal imports from entering the country.
The employers, represented by the South African Footwear and Labour Association, are offering an increase of 7% on wages and 0.05% on annual bonus.
Pullen said they were aware that the industry was flooded by imported goods and that many of the companies had closed down a few years ago.
"But as a union, we reached an agreement to assist the employers in this regard. In terms of that agreement, the industry is now booming and there has been tremendous growth but they [employers] are abusing that trust.
"The last time we went on strike was six years ago," Pullen said.
Bagshaw Footwear Port Elizabeth chief executive Marius Ferreira said the strike had resulted in at least 27% production losses.
"We are not directly involved in the wage negotiation, which is done at the National Bargaining Council in Durban. We hope that sooner or later they will continue with talks that will lead to an amicable agreement." Ferreira said the company could not afford further disputes and the main object at the moment was to honour its obligation to customers.
National Bargaining Council general secretary Gerald Naidoo said the strike would continue.
- Meanwhile, Eastern Cape Liquor Board workers also downed tools and are demanding a 10% wage increase.
The members – affiliated to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, which include administrators, liquor licence issuing officers and outlet inspection and compliance officers – started picketing at the board's head office in East London on Monday. - Hendrick Mphande
