Strike threat hangs over Durban July
There are fears that planned strike action by scores of workers could lead to the cancellation of the annual Durban July at the Greyville Racecourse on Saturday
The Academic & Professional Staff Association (APSA) union says negotiations with Phumelela Gaming, which is part of the event, deadlocked last week.
Phumelela plans to retrench 700 of the workers in its betting division.
"We have been using the CCMA commissioner to facilitate for the last three months and we have failed to reach an agreement with the employer. The law then gives us a provision that if we are not happy we can obviously embark on industrial action," says APSA general secretary Boitumelo Senokwane.
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He says the focus should be to avoid retrenchments at all costs.
In a statement, Phumelela says it has revised its offer to APSA, without going into detail as to what exactly has been put on the table.
"Phumelela is optimistic that an amicable solution will be reached with the trade union. The company recently undertook a Section 189 A retrenchment process, facilitated by the CCMA, because it has no option but to close a number of stores that are not operating profitably. Simultaneously, several duplicated roles have been rationalized."
The company says it regrets the loss of jobs but the current state of the economy leaves them with no choice but to retrench.
But Senokwane is adamant that the union will accept nothing less than an offer to retain workers. It expects the matter to be concluded by midnight on Wednesday.
"If by today there is no response, by midnight today, then tomorrow we have a program planned to send a warning to Phumelela by tomorrow morning. All the stakeholders, including Vodacom, will be affected by the action we will take tomorrow to send a warning for Saturday."
According to organisers Gold Circle Racing and Gaming, its all systems go for Saturday and it does not anticipate any disruptions.