Striking citrus workers in Sundays want 13% increase

The Sundays River Valley’s citrus industry has been at a standstill for the past three days as workers demand a 13% salary increase.

Workers ranging from pickers to packers downed tools on Wednesday and have not returned to work since.

South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) representative Xolani Jonas said workers would return to work only once the employers agreed to a 13% increase.

“The people . . . want 13% and there’s no changing that.”
He said farm workers and co-operative workers had gone underpaid for long enough.

The companies affected include the Sunday’s River Citrus Company, Unifruitti, Sun Citrus Packers, Citrus Run and Golden Ridge.

Sunday’s River Citrus Company CEO Hannes de Waal said his company had offered workers a 10% increase last Saturday.

“Some of our workers desperately want to return to work because this strike has had devastating effects on their families,” he said.