"There will be minimal impact on trading and customer service as contingency plans are in place and additional temporary employees have been recruited for this peak trading period," Clicks commented.
Earlier on Wednesday Saccawu said its members at Clicks would embark on a protected strike from 1 December, "in pursuance of the struggle for a living wage and in support of their demand for decent wage increase".
The company has offered a wage increase of 9.5% to its staff within the bargaining unit - which is well above the current inflation rate of 5.7%. However, the union rejected the offer after five months of wage negotiations.
The bargaining unit consists of 1086 non-union members and 2324 Saccawu members.
Michael Harvey, managing director of Clicks, said the group believed that the offer was generous, given the current trading conditions and the impact of the global recession on the South African economy.
"We have exhausted all avenues to seek a resolution and don't believe that it is in the interest of the company or our employees to wait any longer for their salary increases," Harvey said.
Wage negotiations between Clicks and Saccawu commenced in May 2011 and the parties have been in formal dispute since early July 2011 despite participation in a private dispute resolution meeting as well as a number of CCMA mediated dispute resolution meetings.
Saccawu said that on the first day of the strike, workers will gather at the local union offices across the country for a briefing on strike and picket rules before proceeding to picket at their workplaces.
"On 2 December, workers in Cape Town will march to the company's head office and in Johannesburg they will march to a local store in the Johannesburg CBD," the union warned. "Workers will then picket again on 3 December, after which an assessment will be conducted to decide on the way forward regarding the dispute," the union added.
But Clicks said it had yet to receive official notification of the strike by Saccawu.
Late last month the company reported a growth in retail turnover by 10.9% to R10.8 billion in the year to August, led by the continuing strength of its core drug chain stores.
The company, which opened its 400th store in August this year, also manages The Body Shop under a franchise arrangement in SA, and owns Musica.
In terms of capital expenditure, chief executive David Kneale said Clicks planned to spend R152 million on refurbishment and the opening new stores and pharmacies, and a further R65 million rand on updating its IT systems.
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