Job losses at Clover a slap in the face, says Giwusa
The Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) and General Industrial Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) says government is dragging its feet amid the jobs crisis.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei said they met with the office of the Minister of Economic Development Ebrahim Patel.
“The meeting was called with the purpose to discuss the factory closures and job losses in Clover.”
“The unions requested to instruct the Competition Tribunal to declare Milco and Clover to be in breach of the conditions contained in the authorisation of the merger which precludes the employer from retrenching workers or introducing less favourable conditions of employment.”
Sebei said in the meeting, government restated what the company said to unions in the negotiations instead of providing any solution.
“Further, government is clearly refusing to hold Milco accountable to its promises to create and not destroy jobs. In 2019, to get approval for the acquisition of Clover, Milco promised to create additional 500 jobs, but since then about 2000 jobs have been shed by Clover.
“Clover workers have been on strike for over two months, following the announcement of inhumane and unlawful decisions imposed on them by the company, which include the retrenchment of more than 1000 workers and wage cuts of 20% across the board.”
Sebei says the call for an intervention has been refused by the minister and this leaves them with no choice but to embark on mass action against government and the Department of Economic Development.
“The merger between Clover and Milco is, in our view, a violation of competition law, yet it was authorised by government despite clear and decisive opposition from trade unions.”
He further added that the unions urge all South Africans to boycott Clover products in solidarity with the striking workers.
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