Union members have expressed surprise at claims that Grahamstown's largest production industry is at risk of closing down, as knock-on effects from a protracted wage strike begin to emerge.
Union members have expressed surprise at claims that Grahamstown's largest production industry is at risk of closing down, as knock-on effects from a protracted wage strike begin to emerge.
CEO of Makana Brick, Colin Meyer, says a nearly month-long strike by workers at its Grahamstown factory for better wages has lost the company lucrative deals and says this may force it to close, as builders grumble over penalties for resulting delays in completing their contracts.
Makana Brick, an unlisted company with eight shareholders, Meyer being one of them, is the biggest secondary production industry in the area, employing 240 people, with a daily wage bill of R25 000.
Meyer declined to reveal the company's annual turnover. "The company is at a risk of closing down," said Meyer. "But that is not (something we would choose): we will be forced in to that. Our first prize is for the workers to come back to work. We have already lost production of three months to date."
Meyer warned that the strike might lose the company more deals because of its inability to supply contractors. This loss of business, Meyer said, was brought more acutely into focus by the fact that the government was currently addressing the country's shortage of schools.
Makana Brick had developed a special product for the construction of schools, to government specifications, but had already lost five of these contracts. Meyer said in order to meet demand, they were employing casual workers.
A letter from one of Makana Brick's distributors, which Grocott's Mail has in its possession, said two housing projects were on hold because of the factory's failure to deliver supplies and that the company could face harsh financial penalties.
Meyer said the company had been trying to resolve the strike. We have tried to meet their demands. We have gone up three times without the union reducing their demands, he said. On Monday the company had withdrawn their offer of R1.30 (9.75%)after union negotiators refused it.
He said now they had R1.10 (8.25 percent) on the table and were hoping to resume negotiations shortly. Meyer also spoke of a three-year plan, whereby wages would be increased by a certain percentage every year.
He said the three-year plan was an attempt to avoid having workers go on strike every year for wage increases and the consequent production loss. The workers had refused this offer, said Meyer, who also believes the workers may be recruiting people from the township to boost the strike.
National Union of Mineworkers branch secretary Sandisile Che expressed surprise at Meyer's warning that the company might be closed down. "He didn't tell us or consult the branches about that", said Che.
Che said the workers' initial demand had been R1.90. They had dropped to R1.50 and went down again to R1.40, with certain conditions. In response to claims from the management that they had spotted unfamiliar faces among the strikers and suspected that non-workers were being brought in to boos the numbers, Siphiwo Thwani, chairperson of the local NUM branch, said these were people working in Plant 2 – a different section of the factory, on the same premises.
He said these workers had been brought down to Plant 1 after their plant was closed for renovation in December. Thwani said the workers had been forced to cancel a meeting to try and resolve the impasse, after the company refused them access to toilets and taps on the premises.
By yesterday the situation remained unresolved, with no agreement reached.
