Fawu began an indefinite strike at SAB on Monday (29 September)‚ demanding a 9% wage increase across the board.
SAB has offered workers a 7% average wage increase which will increase the average monthly pay for shift workers by R1‚196 to R18‚283.
Fawu says its other main bone of contention is that the employer's offer entails a split of 60% increase across the board‚ with the remaining 40% as a non-guaranteed performance-based component.
On Wednesday (2 October)‚ more than 60 striking workers picketed outside SAB's offices in Newlands‚ Cape Town. Mark Oliver‚ a Fawu shop steward at the offices‚ said workers had been receiving "threatening text messages" from management.
"They are saying we should come back to work otherwise will not receive our backdated pay-which we are entitled to‚" Oliver said. He said that after balloting workers at the office to gauge sentiment on the strike action‚ 67% had voted in favour of it.
"The strike will intensify‚ the majority of workers are in favour of the strike here. In Gauteng 100% of workers voted yes‚" Oliver said.
Fawu deputy general secretary Moleko Phakedi said that there was no reason why employers would refuse to meet our demands.
"It is sheer arrogance. We know the 9% we are demanding is well within their reach. We will not be budging and the strike will intensify. We hope SAB will be reasonable‚" Phakedi said.
SAB said on Wednesday (2 October) it believed that the wage increase it was offering was highly competitive, above inflation and comes off a high base.
"SAB is one of the highest-paying employers in SA across all sectors and one of the highest in the brewing industry worldwide‚" SAB human resources director Yokesh Maharaj said.
Maharaj said the wage offer was made after three months of intense negotiation. There are currently no negotiations under way or planned‚ as SAB is awaiting response from Fawu on its final offer.
SAB also said performance-related pay was a critical element of its ability to pay among the highest wages in the country. It said it believed that a wish to fundamentally undermine performance-related pay is at the heart of the strike called by Fawu which is currently under way at some SAB sites.
"Performance-related pay is part of SAB's DNA. It was implemented in the late 1990s and has been widely accepted as critical to the success of the organisation. SAB is one of the world leaders in the brewing industry because it has placed a high level of importance on‚ among other things‚ performance. This in turn has enabled the company to pay comparatively high wages. SAB is a world-class company‚ paying world-class wages and we expect world-class performance‚" Maharaj said.
SAB has not responded to the allegations of intimidation.
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