GEORGE NEWS - SACCAWU, the SA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union, has declared a wage dispute with two companies in George, Hartman & Sons Butchery and Roelcor Meat Trade.
At Roelcor Meat the union demanded an increase of R300 per month which they said was the only wage demand for the 2010 and 2011 wage cycle.
At Hartman & Sons the union demanded that the company increase employees’ salaries by R250 per week, negotiable for the 2010 and 2011 wage cycle.
SACCAWU said in a statement that Hartman is offering no increase for the year under review and its minimum wage is currently less than R2 000 per month.

Owner of Hartman & Sons, Andries Hartman, said the business is suffering from the consequences of an economic recession where customers have felt the bite and cut their spending.
"Competition in the market has also forced us to take a serious look at our company’s costs," said Hartman.
"Rather than granting increases and having to declare workers redundant, we have tried to keep all our staff employed.
"There has been ongoing consultation with employees where we kept them informed of this strategy. We also undertook to revisit the wage issue when the situation improves.
"This is the first dispute we’ve had with workers in over 20 years. We are striving to keep going as normal as possible for the sake of our customers," said Hartman.

Roelcor’s offer ‘is fair’
Roelcor branch manager Gert Jordaan said their workers have been on strike for a week over wages. "Our company sets the wage increases centrally and had to take the increased cost of water and electricity into consideration.
"The sharp increase in electricity is particularly detrimental to our industry. We have implemented water savings, but electricity is an input cost we have little control over."
He said the union had initially demanded an increase of 20.51%. "In the current negative economic climate and the May inflation figure at 4.6%, Roelcor has offered a raise of between 6% and 7%.
"Roelcor sees its personnel as its biggest asset and always endeavours to have a happy workforce. Our minimum salaries are significantly higher than the average in the abattoir industry. We are of the opinion that our offer is fair, given the difficult economic climate."

Jordaan said business is continuing as normal and slaughtering and deliveries will not be affected by the strike.

Article: Anica Kruger