Thousands of striking citrus industry workers will know today [Monday] whether they will get the 13% salary increase they are demanding.
On wednesday, workers in the Sundays River Valley embarked on a three-day, unprotected strike and shut down all work, demanding their salaries be increased from R16.50 an hour to R20 an hour.
After handing over a petition to bosses last week, the workers said they had given the employers until today [Monday] to come back with a final offer.
The employers had offered an increase of between 8% and 10%.
Sundays River Citrus Company chief executive Hannes de Waal said he would be sending out a notice demanding his employees return to work, failing which he would pursue legal action.
The strike is supported by the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), which is representing the workers.
Citrus is a R3-billion industry which operates for only 25 weeks of the year, starting in May and ending in September.
De Waal said he had not yet calculated the loss incurred by the strike, but said it amounted to millions as orders had to be cancelled until further notice.
“The loss is severe and the impact on supply chain is enormous.
“We’ve lost a week of picking and packing, which means we have also lost a week of sales,” he said.
“Container bookings had to be cancelled and we’re competing with countries such as Egypt and Morocco. This is a vicious industry.”
De Waal said the strike meant that the Sundays River Valley was not delivering as expected and this diminished South Africa’s value as a reliable citrus supplier.
Sanco regional member Xolani Jonas said workers would not return to work until employers agreed on the 13% increase.
He said bosses had taken advantage of workers long enough and needed to pay them what they deserved.
“We have had meetings with them, but on Thursday we handed them a memorandum.
“We’re giving them until today [Monday] to give us a reply and, if they don’t, the workers won’t return to work.”
De Waal said he was disappointed with the workers being represented by Sanco because that was not the organisation’s function.
“There’s no negotiation going on here,” he said.
“We received a demand from Sanco, saying it wants 13% for workers and there’s absolutely no way we’re going to negotiate with Sanco.”
De Waal said his workers did not really earn R16.50 an hour as they had an “extremely lucrative incentive system”.
“It’s rare that they earn less than R20.50 an hour and now, with Sanco’s demands, it means that workers will lose their incentives.”
Xolani Kabeni, a packer, said he was not happy about the strike or that their bosses did not want to give them a raise.
“I earn R16.62 an hour and it’s not enough.
“I have children, I have a wife and I need to make sure that I do things for my house and I can’t afford a lot of things my family needs,” Kabeni said.
Lonwabo Mahlathi, who also works as a packer, said he supported the strike, but added that he wished the process could speed up.
“For as long as I’m not at work, I don’t get paid. Finding a job is hard, but we needed to be paid fairly, so I support this,” he said.
Sundays River Valley mayor Nombulelo Hawu said she hoped the board of directors of the citrus company could conclude this as soon as possible.
She feared that, if prolonged, things could take a turn for the worst.
“The burning of tyres could escalate and result in municipal property being destroyed and we don’t want that,” she said.
Meanwhile, seven people were arrested on Friday in Kirkwood on charges ranging under the Criminal Matter Amendment Act and also public violence.
Police spokeswoman Captain Gerda Swart said the men, aged between 21 and 50, would appear today in the Kirkwood Magistrate’s Court.
“It is alleged that the suspects drove around the Kirkwood area and ordered workers not to report to work, as well as allegedly participated in actions of provoking unlawful behaviour,” Swart said.