SACTWU WINS A 6% WAGE INCREASE AFTER SAKPRO STRIKE
Nazmia Leite
Date: 5 October 2021
Media Release: Immediate
SACTWU WINS A 6% WAGE INCREASE AFTER SAKPRO STRIKE
The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has called off its four week protected wage strike at SAKPRO, a bag manufacturing company located in White River in Nelspruit in our Mpumalanga Province.
This follows on the achievement of a successful strike settlement outcome for our members.
The background is as follows:
SACTWU and SAKPRO management engaged in three rounds of plant level wage negotiations, earlier this year. Unfortunately, these negotiations deadlocked, and mediation processes facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA) could also not yield a settlement.
Our trade union then conducted a strike ballot, in which 79.7% of our members voted in favour of strike action.
Our members accordingly embarked on a protected wage strike, with effect from 9 September 2021. This strike caused a complete but orderly shutdown of the factory’s operations. Our strike finally yielded an acceptable settlement on 1st October 2021.
In terms of the final settlement, our members will receive a 6% wage increase, back-dated to 1 July 2021. In addition, they will also receive a 5.3% increase in their monthly transport allowance.
Our members at this company have now returned to work, with effect from yesterday, 4 October 2021 and are now in the process of restarting the factory’s production operations.
Issued by
Andre Kriel
General Secretary
SACTWU
For further comment please contact SACTWU’s Head Of Projects, Mr Tshepo Makhene, on cell number 061 485 4243.