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paga 3
i n t roduc t ion of a serv ice allowance scheme*
(Thess increases a r t over and obova a 7 1/2%
acrooe-the-board increase oranted by tha
company during March 1980) * Tha agreement
includee a provia lon that r u r t h a t waga
incraaaaa tia nagot ia ted in ona yaara t ime .
Tha agraanant fu r the r providea f o r i
1 ) , a non-v ic t im iea t ion claueo|
1 1 ) * tha Unlon'a r i g h t to hold meotinge on
eompeny pramiaaa e f t e r working hourai
l i l ) . a Union not ica board a t aach dapot|
i v ) « tha replecement of l i a i a o n committees by
a OhBp steward System)
v ) , raaaonabla time o f f wi th pay to ba grantad
to ahop stewards for t rada union aducationi
v l ) * a commitment by tha Union not to " c a l l
upon or compel" A l l i e d workers to
p a r t i c i p a t a i n worker aot ioh which would
d ie rupt normal oparationa except whara i t
r a l a t a a to tha publ lahing t rade*
Tha, r o l e of tha I n s t i t u t e f o r I n d u s t r i a l
Ralat lona ( I f l f t ) *
Tha f i r a t tha Union haard of IRfl
involvement i n tha diaputa waa a f t a r tha praaa
con*a*nnca i * t a in January when A l l i a d
management waa reported to hevo aaid t h a t i t
had aotad " s t r i c t l y w i t h i n tha tarsia of tha
guldal inaa aat down by the IRA", When CCAtfUSA
mode enquir iee from tha IRR aa t o whathar t h i a
waa tha caaa t an I n a t i t u t a epokeomen proceeded
to o r i t i c i a a what i t parcaivad aa CCAtfUSA'a
uncooperative boheviour in i t a daal inga wi th
A l l i a d up to that po in t *
Aa mentioned obovep tha ac t ing d i r e c t o r
of tha lrfR waa put forward aa a n e u t r a l c h a i r
man at tha f i r s t mooting batwaan tha Union
and A l l i a d . and t h a t t h i s suggestion waa
r e j e c t e d by tha workrt r c p r o i o n * - t i v e s .
A l l i a d had fu r the r asked, and t h l a was
agreed to by CCAdUSA, t h a t tha 1AR ba
roquoeted to do an audi t of A l l i a d worker
membership of tha Union* Howevsrt whan the Job
had been ha l f -comple ted , CCAUU5A racaivad e
l e t t e r from the I n e t i t u t e aaylnQ that
" i t i a c l e a r . • • • t h a t the r a l a t i o n a h i p batwaan
CCAtfUSA and tha I n a t i t u t a i a such that there
s i g h t be aosia doubt ebout the v a l i d i t y of
the membership f igures produced by tha IRf l ,
Aa t h l a would defeat the purpoee of the
exercise we f a e l i t naceaaary to advlaa you
thst we ere unable to proceed wi th the
e x o r c i s e / ' (6y tha time the agreement waa
e igned, the mesibarehip audit had not yet
baan completed)*
Some daye l a t e r . Pie r ieen in in i * tha Canaral
Secretary of CCAUUSA, received a phone c a l l
frosi flr van C o l l a r aaying that he wee
withdrawing from involvement in the d iaputa .
However, the IRR wrote a l a t t e r to the Union
during mid-flsrch informing CCAWUSA that the
I n a t i t u t a wis angened in pravlf*lr*3 e n u r e s
f o r A l l i e d management* Theee oouraea ware to
taach aenlor management "negot ia t ing s k i l l s "
end middle Aanagamant " ' indust r ia l R e l a t i o n e * *
At i t e PUrch mat t ing , CCAJbSA'e executive
commlttaa decided t h a t in view of the 1RR*B
r o l a i n tha diaputa the Union ohould d i s
a f f i l i a t e from the o rgen iee t ion . I n a d d i t i o n ,
Ms r taohinini* e member of the I n e t i t u t e v e
board of Truataaa, hea raaigned from her
pos i t ion there*
A * F i n s j
THE KAROO MEAT EXCHANGE STRIKE THC a o l l d a r l t y and determination of workara
in the Cape Town meat induatry waa ahown
during tha a t r l k e by 59 Keroo Root Exchange
workers in March t h i s yeer .
Uorkere from 15 Cepa Town eaat f a c t o r l e e
gatharad savarel timas during tha a t r l k e to
enow t h e i r support for tha Karoo workers.
And i t i a l i k e l y t h a t i f tha workara*
demands had not bean met when thBy ware,
workere throughout the industry would hava
gone on s t r i k e - Just before the t e e t e r
wsBkandp when the demand for meet i a p a r t i c u
l a r l y h igh .
Tha Karoo atr lkB began on nonday t narch
2a, when management a l l eged ly dlamlaaed an
unregiBtarad workar without conault ing tha
workers' committee f i r a t *
Two pointa need to be mede heret
1 * The workere* committee i a a lac ted by the
workara but i t a cona t i tu t ion hae bean accepted
by •enegemanti
2* henegamant had agreed to conault tha
committee over the h i r i n g and f i r i n g of
workara. I t waa tha f a c t that th ia p r i n c i p l e
hed been broken that cauaed tha workara to
a t r l k e . Thla i s p a r t i c u l a r l y edvenced in
the context of South Afr lcen lebour r e l a t i o n s .
pa ye ft
There ore a l together SO workere at
Karoo heat . The 20 eo~cel led coloured workere
d id not eupport the e t r i k o of t h e i r fe l low
e f r l c a n workere.
On the Friday a f t e r the e t r i k e had
e tar tod* the workera agreed to re turn to work
I f e l l of them were uncondl t ionel ly r e -
i n e t a t e d i n t h e i r former p o e i t i o n e . On the
yedneedey night before t h i e * over 100
reproeontet ives from 11 other neat firmo
had gathered at the o f f i c a a of the union
repreeenting the workere* the tteatern
Province General Vorfcero* Union (tfPGWU), to
exproeo t h e i r e o l i d e r i t y wi th the Karoo
workere*
They drof ted • l e t t e r to the general
manager of *aro<* heat* Jon en Louw* demanding
the uncondi t ional re—inetotomont of a l l the
workere. They aald the e t r i k e had come et a
time when workere in the meet induetry ware
p a r t i c u l a r l y angry about t h e i r wagee and
working conditioner A copy of the l a t t e r waa
eent to boeooe of a l l 11 neat f i n e repreeent -
ad et the meeting.
On f r i d e y * March 28, the workere gather
ed at Karoo heete* h a i t l e n d o f f l c e e e t 7 mm.
At ebout 8*30 em, mombere of the workere'
committee were ca l led i n t o the o f f i c e . Louw
t o l d them that e l l the workera would have to
f i l l i n appl ice t ion forme end the f i rm would
decide during the weekend which workere
they would re-employ.
Thie wee f i rmly re jec ted by the workere
who eald they would not re turn to work u n t i l
a l l of them were uncondi t ional ly r e - i n e t e t e d *
•not through app l ice t ion forme end not one
by one*, they ae id .
The next Gey* a maae meeting of about
2SD neat workers waa held in Lnnra to l lecues
the Keroo e t r i k e . Support fbr the Keroo
workere wee re -a f f i rmed and Karoo management
wee ce l l ed on to ecced* to the workere' 'non-
negot iable dmmande*. One of the repreeenta-
t ivee wee e lec ted by workera of each of the
15 f lrme repreeented at the meeting* I t waa
decided that eech repreeentet ive ehould go to
aee hie boae at 7 am on ffonday morning and
aek for permiaaion to be preeent at a meeting
between Karoo workera and management, which
wee to be held et 8 en on flonday.
At 7 am on nonday* flerch 30. e l l Keroo
workere* WPCWU o f f l c i m l o * end the preee
gethered at the f a c t o r y . U i t h i n the next
h e l f hour workere from 11 other meat f a c t o r i e s
a r r i ved* At about 7.30 am. the workera were
c e l l e d i n t o the o f f i c e * Union o f f i c i a l * * the
preee end workere from the other f a c t o r i e e
remained outside*
Two houra l a t e r the wotkore emerged*
They hed won an o u t r i g h t v i c t o r y . They hod
re jeoted menagement'e request t h a t eech f i l l
out an a p p l i c a t i o n form and ina ie ted on
uncondit ional re—inetetement* Thie wee
eventual ly agreed to by men%gement who fu r the r
egreed to pey the workere a week'e wegee end
to conault the workere* committee on a l l
ieeuea e f f e c t i n g the workera in the f u t u r e .
The e t r i k e * which l e e U d exact ly a week*
confirmed the workere' r igh t to be coneulted
on every iaeue a f f e c t i n g tha« . I t e lao
damonetreted to a l l workere in the meet
induetry tf tet they cen rely on indua t ry -
wlde worker eupport for any t t r u g g l e in the
f u t u r e .
9CCAUSC of dcmancs from uur reaoarahlp# aome »
of whom found the eervice woeful* we are
r e i n e t e t i n g the H a t i n g of e t r i k e and other .
labour ac t ion . There might be e few
e t r i k e e reported et the end of 1979 thet we
have mleaad t but any Traneveal reported
e t r i k e e during 1980 w i l l have bean covered*
and w i l l be l i e t e d during the reet of t h i e
year*
We do, however* aek our readere in other
centree to eend ue informet lon on any auch
e t r i k e e we might have mlaeed* end eepecia l ly
on e t r i k e e by form lebourore*
U1P would e t l l l p r e f e r to cerry e r t i c l e a
lnd ice t lng trenda end mnelyeing lebour ection
then to provide only a record of auch ac t ion .
To make t h i e poaelble we eek for cont r lbu-
t lona from our readere.
79*12*24t An unnamed Voroeniging photographic
proceaaing laboretory did not pey workere m
Chrletmee bonue m n ichael KeJlen, meneger*
eald that p r o f i t e hed not been whet wee
expected. Seven a t e f f membere welked out
— one* Joey ftuolelo* eald that ha hed worked
for the company for 9 yeere and had never
received a bonue.
Kel len eaid that he would rather teech
new e t e f f during 1980 then pay bonueee*
Outcome unknown.
fanny fermore Bakery end Confectlonere
( l o r o n t z v l l l e * Johannesburg)! 11 workere
reeigned becauee of non-payment for overtime
worked (ROTf 7 9 . 1 1 * 2 9 ) . henagement eald
thet there were no problema ee fe r ee they
were concerned*
A epokeaperaon for the workere eeid
page >
t h t t he hod earned PJ1?,ftO a week. Two other
workere aarnad R19,00 » week ( a f t a r 1? months
and 2 yaara i n employe-ant r e e p e c t i v o l y ) .
Bucon S w i i t t { H e r r i o t d o l o , Johsnnseburgji
Claven man aald that they had had fll,00
deducted from t h a i r pay and 2 weeks l a t a r
anothar R5 t 75, a l lagadly f o r 'swaate aatan
by workara* (Poe t , 7 9 . 1 2 . 2 2 ) . On Tuesday
(20 th November) thay want to tha Deportment
of flenpower U t i l i a a t i o n and to tha I n d u a t r i a i
Council for tha Sweotmaking Induetry to
complain about tha treatment thay had received*
Tha next day thay returned to work but
refused to work u n t i l thay had baan refunded.
Henagement egreed to kaap on 3 workere,
but a l l rafuaad to r e t u r n . A d i rac tor aald
that tha Oapartmant had found that tha deduct-
lona wara J u e t i f i e d . Workere wara aarnlng
R2B|00 a waak in eomo ceeea.
Tha naxt day i t waa raportad that tha
workara would not ba ra inata tad and that tha
vacanciaa had baan f i l l a d .
Bus Qrivara (llohlekeng Township)i Thara waa
i n d i r e c t aontion pf a a t r i k a by bus dr ivers
on tha route batwaan nohlakeng and Rsnd-
fonta in (Pos t , 7 9 . 1 1 . i d ) i n an a r t i c l a on
a l lagad overcharging py members of ,the
nohlakang Taxi Associat ion during tha a t r i k a .
'Tha but d r i v e r s ' s t r i k e want without
any incidanta l a s t week end buaaa ran noreially
short ly a f t a r morning peek ho irs l a e t Thurs—
day* - waa tha extent of the coverega of tha
a t r i k a .
r i o r i a ^ Shop (Senlam iull<Hng« 3ohenneeburg)t
Two survivors or ti*e j jwe to hiyiiwt»y -**» ci^aU
in which IB oaonle had d i e d , were f i r e d
from t h e i r Jobe at a f l o r l a t shop a f t e r they
had apant two week a i n h o e p i t a l .
Tha Diapkloof Raaidante* Aaaociat ion,
where tha woman l i v e , aald that * l t eoems
that soma people are only in te res ted in our
labour end not our secur i ty * (Post , 7 9 . 1 1 . 0 9 ) .
Unlcfr Chemical Coopsnv ( S p r i n g f i e l d , Johennee-
burg) i On 26th November, 1979, 37 Af r ican
workere at th ia company went on a t r i k a
baoauaa of complalnta t h e t they wara Qroaaly
underpaid. Tha workere, who etayed outeida
tha factory^ had eerv*d wi th tha company f o r
up to 36 yaera in some cases* They eeld thet
thay had been promissd an increase but that
nothing had m a t e r i a l i s e d . Thay alao
complained about no and of year bonua, end
that thara waa no workere' committee In the
f a c t o r y .
Tour men wi th between 29 end 36 years
amrvice wara earning ft30,00 e week. Ranegar
RJ Pr ineloo refused to comment on tha day of
tha e t r i k e . The next dey the workere
returned to work, heving been granted wege
increasaa rtn^iny Tro* 20 to 2 , percent .
l/ersenlqlno ftefractorleei Three membere of
the Bui lding Construction and A l l i e d
Workers' Union were f i r e d in November, 1979.
The man bel ieved that i t waa r e l a t e d to
t h e i r trade union work. The raaaone given
by the f i r m on t h e i r Unemployment Insurance
Fund i 'JIF) Torme for f i r i n g the» were
• re fus ing to qo and srnrk in en**th*r sect ion '
and * l o a f i n g and being vary cheeky wi th the
hnas-boy and the f o r e r u n * . Tha men had
roepectlvtAy 1 * t 14 ono 2 years aorvice
Frenk Hohle le , a union organiser , sold
that ha had had no explanation from the f i r m
on the dismissals, and that tha union was
s t i l l s t ruggl ing for recognit ion in tha f i r m
(Poe t , 7 9 . 1 1 . 0 6 ) .
No fu r the r information a v a i l a b l e .
Southern Afr ican Society of Journa l ls to . The
5ASJ, rapraeentlng meinly white Journal iete
employed by the Cnglish^lenguage commercial
p raee , demanded lncreaeee of 22,5% i n Decem
ber* Cmployere o f fe red n;C and the metter
hoe been re fe r red to e r b i t r e t i o n under
Arthur Chaskalaon SC, a Johannesburg lawyer.
The Wr i te rs ' Association of South Af r lce
(WASA), representing black Journel iete# wee
reported to have reTueed to j o i n the SAS3
(recognieed union) in negot ia t ione . WASA
n o t i f i e d aaployara that i t would eaak m
aeperete egreement. The h is tory of tha
r e l e t i o n s h l p between white and black Journal-
l e t s goee beck eoae yaare , when tha 5ASJ
deregietered ( i n torme of the I n d u a t r i a i
Conc i l i a t ion Act) i n order to open l t e »e«—
berehip* VASA wee formed in oppoeit ion to the
SASJ and now includea moat of tne uleck
j o u r n e l i a t e i n i t s aemborehip,
Wi t ter SA ( P t y ) Ltd ( I s i p l n g o ) i A wage
diapute waa thought to be behind e 'a i t -down
proteat* outeida th ia f loor -cover ing factory-
f i f t y workere wara involved ( D e l l y Newot
7 9 . 1 1 . 2 2 ) .
tlora informat ion needed.
Trede Unlonietoi Johonn floreo, a eenior
l e c t u r e r at UCT, waa refused a paasport to
v i a i t the USA on an i n t e r n a t i o n a l v l e to re *
page 6
programme* fieree i s doinq h is PhD on trade
unionism and wee involved I n a workere*
advisory pro ject i n the Jeetern Cepe.
Ha ba l iavee t h a t the re fusa l of a pass
port and of those f o r two FOSATU o f f i c e
bearers waa r e l a t e d to t h e i r contact wi th
the labour movement.
Rslnbow Chicken Processing Plant (Hsamersdsle
N e t a l ) i 55 workere er reeted et % s t r i k e at
t h i s f i r * i n Auguat-September, 1979, ware
chergad w i t h ' p u b l i c v io lence* ( t e e UIP. 1 0 ) .
At the end of October 54 workere (ebout
h a l f of thesi man) reappeared i n the Camper-
down magist re te 'a court snd were each f ined
RIO (or 160 days) , t h l e t i n s , r epor ted ly , f o r
•at tending en i l l e g a l gather ing* and ' f a i l i n g
to heed e pol ice warning to disperse'
( D a i l y Newe, 7 9 . 1 0 . 3 0 ) *
I t wee said t h a t a * r i o t squad' f r o *
fleritzburg had been ca l l ed to the e t r i k e
undar Captain h rtelKett, who had warned the
crowd to diepereo ( i n terme of the Riotoue
Assemblies A c t ) , yhen the crowd f a i l e d to
do so teargaa waa f i r e d . Some diapersed
but 200 did not do so. 'ningleauera and
a g i t a t o r s 1 were than a r res ted .
1990
Aqqsnsls Hjna (north—west Caps): The mine,
owned by Black ftountein Mineral Development
Company, a subsidiary of Gold F ie lda of SA*
e aubeldiory of Coneolideted Cold, of which
Anglo—American haa Juet managed to get e
25> shere, i s involved in exp lo i t ing s i l v e r ,
z inc and copper depoai te . Two hundred
workere at the mine ware Backed in January,
1980, a f t e r denandlng across the Doard wage
The only report we neve (ROPl, 80 .01 .08 )
etetoe that Management were to hove eeld that
the 900 workere were given the ultimatum of
e i t h e r going back to work and making repreeent-
ations through the *proper channela 1 , or they
'could peck t h e i r bega and leave**
Two hundred l e f t ( f lown beck to the
Tranekei bentueten) , end ware a l legedly
g u i l t y of deaar t ion , and had, t h e r e f o r e , not
been given eeverance pay* Replaeementa ware
taken on.
Transvaal D a i r i e s (Halvern Eaet , Dohanneeburg).
A three-hour e t r i k e took piece on 8 0 , 0 1 . 0 9 ,
involv ing 270 milk de l ivery man employed by
t h i e f i r m . I t appeare t h a t the leeuea had
been long-atending d i e e e t l e f e c t i o n wi th the
worke* committee ( f e l l u r e to convey workere*
gr ievancee) , and a request for e pey incrooae.
flenegement aeid t h e t the pey ieeue would
be diecuaeed wi th the new works committee,
to be 'e lec ted* from is people nominated by
workere ( S t a r , 8 0 . 0 1 . 0 9 ) .
Plpelok (P ty )L td (Germieton)i Ear ly t h i e
yeer two most mysterious reports sppserad on
a a t r i k a a t t h l e compeny. Sixty 'black
employeee* were eeld to have threatened to
•ea t f i r e to trucke leaving t h e i r fec tory*
unlees they were paid the megee of the
previous week. The threete were mede on
Tueaday, 80 *01 .15 , and the workers were meant
to have been pa id on the Friday before .
A white colleague of the workers said
t h a t they were # sick and t i r e d of wai t ing for
wagos . . . Unleee we get pe id aoont we're
going to tear t h i s place down'* Pol ice
attended*
The next day i t waa reported thet e
'neighbouring pipe fec tory 1 had of fered
the workere Jobe. An I r fduet r le l Council
rapreeentet lve eeld that the ownere of
the factory could not be t racad. Two
menf recognieed by workere ee eenlor
s t a f f t denied eny connection with P ipe- |
lok*
nore information needed!
WJQhtuatchms.n ( N a t a l ) t A report appeared
(Nata l f lercury, 80 .01*19 ) on the atrocloua
wages paid to aecuri ty guerde, a l legedly i
by *fiy—by—night' secur i ty f irms who ware
not members of the Nata l Association of
Secur i ty Guards. The wagae were aaid to
be i n the region of R60 a month f o r a
twelve hour e h i f t , e ix dey week*
Of soma 27 f irms eald to be operetlng
i n t h l e f i e l d , only 12 were reg is tered)
the others making uae of tha unemployment
s i t u a t i o n to depreas wagea and undercut
Aaeociation members*
Unilaver (Gokeburg p l a n t ) . Another foreign
ownac p lant and supposed observer of e ' lebour
code* mede the news over diemieeal of a ahop
ateward of tha Food, Beverage and A l l i e d
Workere' Union, Paul N t u l l ( f o r the ectione
or another auch f i r m with atete eupport* aee
our coverage of the Ford e t r i k e i n MIP, 11)
N t u l i wee f i r e d a f t e r the union had
sent the company a l e t t e r informing them of
his e lec t ion ee ehop etaward* Uni laver eeld
t h a t workere were happy with tha ex is t ing
l i e i a o n committee end that there wee no need
page 7 .
for union a c t i v i t y by Paul M u l l , aa reoueet-
ad In the union l a t t e r .
The coapany denied v i c t l a i e e t l o n * and
• l i o othor coaple inte regarding odvancaeeht
and canteen f e c i l l t l e e - the l e t t e r were said
to be n o n - r a c i a l * but t h a t there wea one
canteen f o r ' aenager la l end s a l a r i e d e t e f f "
and another f o r 'weekly-peid e t e f f ' J (ROfl*
8 0 . 0 1 , 1 5 ) .
Skakee Sikhakhane* tha unlon*a general
aeoretary v eoid t h a t Paul N t u l i wee the eacand
ehop ctewerd to be f i r e d . A aonth a f t e r
N t u l i ' e d lea leee l on the 20th Decaaber the
union wae eaid t o be talcing l e g e l act ion
f o r v i o t l a i e o t l o n unleee Un i lever conducted
*e f u l l enqui ry ' •
Ho fu r the r infore iat ion e v e l l e b l e . ,
S t ra t fo rd Engineering, Company (Ophl r ton) t
t l e v e n v c r k a n eeked f o r a etandard r a t e f o r
the Job a t t h l e f i re j e f t e r ona sen hed
received an increaee . The workere were
earning about R33v00 per week.
I t appeera t h a t the aenegeaent consider
ed whet happened eubaaquently to be e walk
out* wii l le the workare eeld that they had
been ordered to br ing t h e i r peee booke ao
that they could be elqned o f f . when the
workere returned new woaen workere hed
elready been taken on i n t h e i r p lace .
The Urban Training Pro jec t wee approach
ed by the workera end eaid to heve teken up
t h e i r coaple inte (Poet 4 S t a r , 80 .01 .31 )«
Sunrloe f r u i t s ( w a d a v i l l a ) i 28 aenlor truck
d t i v a r a c la iaod t h e t v i c t l a i e e t l o n r e l a t e d t o
e t teapte to fo re a works coaeittf>e led to
t h e i r ' r e t renchaent * . Tha coapany denied
t h l s v and *-l#0 thnt the J r ive re hao bean
replaced, but aeld that a 'eeeeonel drop in
work' aeant the ee le of eoa>e trucka (ROB,
8 0 . 0 2 . 0 2 ) .
n ichael Rohotle* general aecretery of
the Transport end A l l i e d Uorkere' Union* to
which the d r i v e r e belong t ae ld tha - the
workera had aaked aenegeaent to el low then
to fera a worke coaa i t tee t o take up g r i evan
ces. Ilenageaent aald that they would
noaineto a l l aoabore, e e i t u e t l o n re jec ted
by the workere*
BMjj ( o i v i l engineering controctor* Seldenhs
Boy)t Following the d l e a l e e e l of e i g h t
workere et the e l t e a t Seldanhe Bay e t the
beginning of February, f l r e t 200 end u l t i -
aa te ly 500 workera deaanding t h e i r r e l n o t a t a -
aent were buaed to Cepa Town to be aent back
to the Tranokol*
Aenegeaent aqreed to r e l n a t e t e seven of
the workere* but t h i a wae re jec ted by t h e i r
f e l l o w workere who deaended thet a l l be taken
beek.
The f i r a t worker f i r e d wae eaid to heve
thraetened a foreaon, an accuaation denied
by the workere. Tha other eeven were the
f i r a t to deasnd h ie reinstatement*
The Western Province General Vorkere*
Union (WPGWU) took up the workere* oaee i n
Cape Town where they epent the f i r a t n i g h t .
They ware than taken to CRGfl'e Cpping a i t e on
Wednesday ( 8 0 . 0 2 . 0 6 ) where aenegeaent al lowed
the e l e c t i o n of a workere1 coaa l t tee * one of
the workere* ee r ly de*ande. The dleaieaed
worker wee one of those e l e c t e d .
Non-resolut ion of the issue led to 280
being returned to t h e Treneke l . The UPCtfU
releeaed e atateaent aeying that aanegaaent'e
a t t i t u d e in 'eecor t ing the workere to the
e t e t l o n ' w i t h r i o t po l ice and doge" could
"only be aeen aa an at taapt to i n t l a l d a t e the
workera I n the aoet high-handed aannar*1*
(RDfl, 8 0 . 0 2 . 0 7 ) .
K i lber Autoaotlve Product! (8ooysene Reaarve)t
2? workere walked out on the 6th of February
e f t e r protest ing thet t h e i r *aonthly
bonuaae* had not been p a i d , nenogoaent eeld
thet bonueee were peld i f a t e r g e t f i g u r e wee
reeched end thet i t wee not au toae t lc .
A d i rec tor * H Sermon* d id * however* ada l t thet
the bonue hed bean p a i d one aonth when the
t a r g e t had not been reached*
Nineteen of tha 27 workera returned to
work ee *new workere* e f t e r deadlock wi th
tha aenegeaent.
•
Ho*|ldev jon (3en Saute A i r p o r t ) ; Seven
woaen were accused of e t e a l l n g aoney f t o a
cuatoaere (H30 * n20) . They were to ld oy 1 aanageaent that they had to contr ibute R2S
each for t h i e t h e f t . They were t o l d fu r the r
t h a t i f they had not paid up by a c e r t e l n eet
t i a e they would heve RSO*00 (e%gh) deducted
f roa t h e i r pay. They f e l t h u a u i e t o d by
t h i a eccueetion end i aaed ie te ly went on e t r l k a
u n t i l ' tne a a t t e r wae resolved, end t h e i r
naaea c leared* (Poet* 8 0 * 0 2 . 1 4 ) ,
George Ryan* aaneger of tha branch* i n e t r u c t -
ed the woaen to return to work w i t h i n f i v e
a l n u t e a . Uhon they o ld not* they were d l e
a ieaed* and t o l d to re turn to C o l l e c t t h e i r
pay the fo l lowing Tueeday* Hens Cnderle*
operetlone d i r e c t o r of Holldey Inns* eeld
page 8
that 'every ho te l employee1* foremost duty
i t to servo gusote and i f tho employees were
unhappy thay could hava contacted t h a i r
department/n l i a i s o n committee repraeante t ivo ' *
Ryan would not deny or acknowloQgs the pey
back c la im .
Re l iab le Production Company ( S t e e l d e l e ) i
Six n igh t e h i f t workere (coven. Poet , 6 0 . 0 2 .
14) claimed to have been on tiaia at e c o l l e c t
ion point to os, taken to the factory on the
night of 8 0 . 0 2 . 1 2 . They aeked the v h i t a
d r i v e r of tha truck to wai t u n t i l the worat
of the atora of t h a t night abated* ea they
had to t r a v e l i n the opan t ruck .
I n two raporte of the events on 8 0 . 0 2 .
14 tRDfl 4 Post) i t l e claimed that the d r ive r
refusad t o w a i t , d r iv ing o f f without them.
Whan they t r i e d to f i n d out what had happened
the next day they ware dismissed for 'no t
turning up f o r work* and f o r 'product ion l o a a ' .
I n e l a t e r report (Poat , 8 0 . 0 2 . 1 8 ) EA Simon,
managing d i rec tor of tha company, i a quoted
ea eaylng thet tha 'n igh t a h i f t foramen
waited 20 mlnutaa l a t e r then usual t o al low
the ra in atorm to abate* h> then had t o iseve
to a t a r t tha night a h i f t * . Tha aaven wera
rsplacad by men who wars fetohad from the
labour buraau the fo l lowing morning, sourcaa
wi th in the company t o l d Poat . Tha workers
hsd been wi th the compeny f o r betwaan 3
waeks end B montho*
South Afr ican West Supply (Caetgete* Johannee-
burg) t Tan women l o s t t h e i r Joba a t the
butchery ownoQ by 5API5 and Deruy«Lowie f
N a t i o n a l i s t Party rtPC for Edenvale, on
80 .01 .25 (RDM, 8 0 . 0 1 . 2 9 ) . According to the
woman* they ware approached l e t e on the
Friday afternoon* Just before they warm to
lsave for homef and ins t ruc ted to wash a
machine. They quariad t h i e * noting that a
man wea alraedy buay claaning i t j t h e t i t was
not par t of t h e i r Job| end that ten of them
could not wash i t anyway*
They wmra f i r e d by the daughtar of
Dftrby-Lcwle f o r 'dieobeying an l n e t r u c t i o n * .
According to Oarby-Lawia on tha other
hand* tha woman rafuead to olaan a aink they
had been i n e t r u c t e d t o t saying i t was a Job
for men. They then walked of f the Job.
having baan to ld by tha manager that i f they
d id not ra turn to work by the next morning
they would ba aaen ea having raa lgned. He
•ajid that ha had than Informed tha pol ice of
the inc ident * l n caaa thara i a any t r o u b l e 1 .
F y u l t Growers' Cooperetive ( C a r a a ) i 750
workere want on s t r i k e a f t e r * cnl leaaue*
KUaa Herfcue nsd been eekad to r e t l r a f r o *
the smploy of the FGC* end hie wagee d i s
continued (arm* B O . 0 2 . I P ) . *h# workers saw
the thraatenad dlamleeal ea revenge because
ha waa a delegete at wage negot iet ione
recent ly held wi th tha compsny's manegameot.
Thay rafuead to ra turn to work unleea
they ware given raassurancea t h a t PJorkua
would remain employed. By 80 .02 .21 ( f lu * ) *
a d d i t i o n a l workers ( labour r e c r u l t e ) had been
h i r a d to replece the e t r l k i n g workers* By
80 ,02 .26 (ftOFl). one of the e t r l k i n g workate
had baan to ld ha would be avlcted from h ie
compeny—owned houee unless he returned to
work* After two weaka 700 workera had
decided to re turn (RDfl. 8 0 . 0 2 . 2 9 ) . A repta -
aentat lva of the Food and Canning Workera'
Union said that asaurances had bu%n givsn that
Klaee fterkue would ba r e i n s t a t e d . I t i a not
known what heppaned to the remaining 50
workers*
•
Afr ican Gate and fence (C lendsfonta in ) i
21 workera were f i r e d a f t e r a wage dispute
(Poe t , 80*04 .02 | ROfl, 8 0 . 0 4 * 0 2 ) . The
previous weak 45 workers hed sent represent
at ion to management, aaklng for pey lncreaafla*
Management had rep l iad that they would get e
r i aa at varloue tlmea during the yaar . That
Tr iday , 24 of the 45 ware given incraasse,
wi th no explanation given to the remaining 2 1 .
Thay quariad t h i s , but warm a t m given no
exp lanat ion . (La te r the peraonnel manager,
.JT nor r i aon , t o l d Poat that I t was a meri t
payment and the 21 d id not deaerve a meri t
r i s e ) , noenwhile, the 21 ware aalacted out
by foremen a f t e r being addraaeed by an
o f f i c i a l f r o * the Oeft*rt*pnt of f'tmnottar
U t i l i z a t i o n . They wars diamlasad from t h e i r
Jobe. norr iaon aald th ia waa beceuaa they
had rrfuasd h i work aqitln, AccoMtnn to tha
workere, however, they d id not refusa to
work at any stage.
c leans* Brushworks (Nawlmnda, joaenneeburgji
Tha raporta from workere a t t h i l fac tory
have e l l bean denied by management in the
paraon of Lauranee 'Oeva1 S a r t i t .
A raport on the conditlona at t h i e f i r m
eppeerad a f t e r 29 workera had been diemleead
for making for e r i s e in pay *en bloc
instead of one a t a t i m e 1 (ssya B e r r l t ) end
f o r apsnding too much time In the t o i l e t e *
He waa alao raported to have threatened
workere with '6 000 blacks in Johannesburg
P«ge 9
alone (who) wart unemployed and would f i l l
posit ions oT l e iy workara ' .
Tha workara claimed t h a t tha owner
dragged workera Out of tha t o i l e t o f tore up
a doctor 'a c e r t i f i c a t e brought by ont of tha
wGrkere) and paid thea wagee of M S , 0 0 and
R18,00 for feeeiee end melee respect ive ly*
Coca-Cola Vael B Q t t l t r t (T ranavea l ) i Early
i n March about iQo workara employed In the
aalee department of t h i e company re futed to
work a f t e r deductions ( f o r not c locking out
one night they had worked l e t e ) had been made
from t h e i r pay* They elao demanded that tha
aajount paid f o r eebh caae handled ( t o tha van
halpara) be h a l f e cant inatead of quarter
of a c t n t ( 7 * of the a t r i k e r t vara van
h* lpere ) f that they be given bonuaaa for tha
and of 1979f and they conplaintd about
a toeul ta and that management eometlmee takea
up to 6 aontha t o reg ie tor workere*
T h i a l a the only repor t of t h i t a t r l k e
that hat coat to our not ice* The outcome
i t not known,
U t r & t e x (Johannetburg)i Clgitt women were
dleaieead by t h i e company for tuppoeedly
being ebeent without leeve for two daye*
The women tay that they had been
ine t ruc ted t o atay at home for that per iod
becauae of a alack in production* The woman
hed been employed for between 5 and 22 yaera
and wera earning between R17,00 end R22
Per week* and a* ld that they hed even had
to work at unloading ra i lway t rucks,
Florence Game, who waa in ju red while doing
t h i e type of work, aaid that the had never
been p a i d out for tha medical coata under
tha Workmen*a Compeneetion a c t .
The menegar had e e r l i e r f i r e d e woman
and aaid that he had a ie teken t h e i r ebeence
f o r e eympethy a t r l k e wi th the d lea ia ied
worker (Poe t , d0 .03 *04 ) .
Afr ican Shipping ( N a t a l ) Ltd (Durban)!
During i pey diaputa PO van Vuuren, atoree
aenager at t h i e company, ce l l ed workara fbaboone> and 'donkeye 1 . He aubtequently
had t o epologiee p u b l i c l y t o the workera
a f t e r the South Afr ican A l l i e d Workete
Union threatened him with court act ion
( t ta te l Heroury, January. 1980)*
Clfflar..u.ndarweer Company (Fordeburg, 3ohennee—
burg) i On Fr iday , 22hd February, 200 women
employed by Clear went 6n a t r l k e In pro tee t
et an order by management thet they ho longer
enter the fectory wi th t h e i r baga* Thet
day would have been the f i r a t on which they
had to leave t h e i r bogo w i t h the eecur l ty
guard at tha gate*
The report e te tee thet the e l t u t t i o n
wee reto lved by Berth Cn i t j a of the Garment
Workers union* I t l a not at a l l c lear how
th ia waa dona, but aoma reference wa« made
to the 'agreement1 between the union end
menegement (Poe t , 80 .02 *25 ) *
PUT CO. (Wynberg, Johenheeburgji Cloven
punch operators want on a t r l k e Juat before
knock o' f t l a e on F r i d a y , 22 Februery t
were et work b r i e f l y on nonday and than etop-
ped work again and l e f t the depot.
They were aaklng for wege lncroeaea to
match that paid to other punch operator*
a t othar f l r a a , of about H3SO.0O par month
( t h i s i t on conputera) . Tha workara at
PUTC0 aaid that they earned leaa than Rao,00
per weak and had been wi th the f i rm for between
2 and 12 yaera . Tha workare wanted e Rao,00
a week increaae*
On Tuoadty ( 2 6 t h ) the workere ware f i r e d
'becauae thay l i k e d ruahlng to newapapera1*
Operating executive at tha depot, CT Ba i l ey ,
eald that the man had f i r e d themselves by
welklng of f the Job while negot let lone were
i n progress, i t wee aaid t h a t the aan hed
been repleced (Poe t , 8 0 * 0 2 . 2 7 ) .
Post nBwspipgt (Oohenneeburg); A b r i e f
and c ryp t ic re-port eppeered on e t e r f
d i a a a t l a f a c t i o n on the newapapar with ce l lo
for the re—inateteaent of twn colleaguaa who
hed recent ly toalgned, end the diamlaael of
a reporter*
Sun City (8ophuthaTawene)l Cleaning e t e f f
et t h i e luxury playground of the r i c h , s i tua ted
in the poverty e t r lcken OophutheTewene
bantuatan, want on e t r i k a jue t before the
t e e t e r long weekend when the hotel waa
expecting to be thronged wi th v l a l t o r a *
I t l a be l ieved t h a t they demended t h e t
t h e i r wegea that atood in the region of
R80,00 per month, be increased to R110,00
per month.
nenegament acceded to the raqueet i f the
e t e f f returned immediately to t h e i r teake Qf
cleening the rooaa. Thia they did*
Ford motor Company (Port E l i z a b e t h ) ! tven
the engiieh-languego commercial preae Joined
in the chorua of condemnation of the banning
orders aarved on the thrae U v l c and f o r d
uorker leeders (Thorami l * ^otha, Phelo
Tehuma, Hono BaOvla and Dan Qtqa) . For a
Fu l l i - : raport on tha a t r i k a and the evente
that lad up to tha banningt t eee WIP 1 1 .
But than. I n t y p i c a l faahlon v tha e t e r t
of a l iquor boycott ca l l ad by PEBCO demanding
tha r a l e " * a of PEBCO l s a c e r s , end in aunoort
of othar P£BCO demande, wee raportad on in
tha Ttanavaal nawepapere t but than no
f u r t h e r nava appeared (aaa RDnf 80.03*04
and S t a r , 8 0 . 0 3 . 0 3 ) .
Thozamile Botha haa alraady haard that
h ia app l ica t ion f o r a re laxa t ion i n tha t a r * a
of h ia banning ordar t h a t , for axanpla* fo rb id
hia to antar any fac tory* haa baan refueed.
Ha and h ia fami ly are f ind ing themeelvee I n
tha aame poa i t ion aa ao many othar bannad
paoplt of having to l i v a o f f char i ty and
contr ibut iona by r a l a t i v e e .
Hia w i f e , Fazaka, aaid that thay vara
a a l l i n g f r u i t outaida a ahop to aarn eomothlng.
Fjlghtwetchmen (T ranevaa l ) i F0SATU, tha Lagal
rfesourcea Lentre and tna l n t , u e t r i e l *iC Society
i n tha Tranevael ara aaid to ba taking up tha
p l i g h t of nightuetchmen in tha Trenevael i n
preparat ion for a Uaga Board determinat ion
cur ran t ly probing tha condit iona of th ia
employment group.
Tha praaant minimum wage f o r th ia
group i a aaid to ba R103,00 par month For a
Maximum of 84 (S) houra par week (even tha
Uaga Board datarminat ion for unak i l l ad workere
a t i p u l a t a a a 46 hour week f o r tha eame
minimuoi uaga (ROH, 8 0 * 0 4 . 1 4 ) .
Tha M n i a t a r of Hanpower aaid in Parl iament
that during 1979 thara vara 54 a t r i k a a
(ROHv 80 .02 .25 )