Johannesburg – Makro stores will continue to operate without interruption, Massmart announced on Friday.
Responding to the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) move to embark on a 10-day strike to press for higher wages, Massmart said it “deployed outsourced retail staff to those stores that may be affected by the strike action”.
In a terse communique, Massmart said it fully anticipates that “our Makro stores will continue to operate without interruption”.
Massmart added: “Our research has revealed little support for the strike action amongst SACCAWU members.
“Evidence supporting this is that there has been a massive spike in resignations from the union since the strike action was announced.
“This is in addition to the more than approximately 1 200 Makro employees who have resigned from the union to accept the company’s wage offer.”
Massmart said the union demand for a 12% increase and 20% commission on sales was “quite clearly unrealistic and is a direct contradiction to the fact that SACCAWU accepted the company offer at our Game and Builders stores”.
Senior Vice President Group Corporate Affairs at Massmart Brian Leroni said: “We have no intention of amending our wage offer”.
Meanwhile, in Pretoria, members of SACCAWU have gathered along Solomon Mahlangu Road en route to Makro in Silver Lakes, where they intend to hand over a memorandum of demands.
