SACTWU TABLES "D" NOTICE FOR PROTEST AGAINST RETAILERS

16 August 2001

The South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union has tabled a notice to Nedlac that it intends proceeding with protest action against retailers. The action will take place throughout the country, commencing from 29 August. The action is protesting, amongst other issues, high levels of imports by retailers, pricing policies of retailers towards manufacturers and the practices of retailers in shifting their sources to low wages areas and exploiting workers in the informal sector.

Sactwu tabled a Section 77(1) "b" notice of possible protest action at Nedlac on 21 May. Meetings were held between the Union and retailers in order to give the retailers an opportunity to respond to the issues raised in the Union's notice. Retailers were also given the opportunity to respond in writing to the Union. After the Union subsequently reported to the Nedlac Standing Committee that the responses from the retailers were not adequate, the Standing Committee decided that the matter could be deemed to have been "considered" in Nedlac. Sactwu tabled its "d" notice on 14 August.

Background

The notice was tabled in terms of Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act, which allows registered trade unions or federations of trade unions to undertake protest action to promote and protect the social and economic interests of workers, if they follow certain procedures. Before embarking on protest action, the trade union concerned is required to serve notice on Nedlac stating the reasons for the protest action and the intended nature of the protest action. The Act requires the Nedlac parties to meet with the trade union and the parties at whom the notice is directed, to consider the issues raised. Should the issues remain unresolved after thorough consideration, workers are entitled to participate in protected protest action 14 days after serving a second notice on Nedlac of their intention to proceed with the action.

In the "b" notice served on Nedlac, Sactwu indicated that the protest would take on some of the following forms:

• Mass rallies outside retail stores
• Placard demonstrations at targeted retail warehouses
• Demonstrations at events sponsored by any of the retail companies
• Call for consumer boycotts
• "Siyalala's" at the retail companies and associated operations during operating hours for the purpose of retarding and/or obstructing work in order to defend the socio-economic interests of workers.

Sactwu is an affiliate of Cosatu, which has already tabled a "d" notice of protest action regarding privatisation, which covers 29 August. Sactwu's notice indicates that the protest action will commence on 29 August, and "shall take place on specific week days as well as specific Saturdays for such period as may be necessary to achieve the outcomes that the protest action is directed to achieve"

Issued by Nedlac in Johannesburg 16 May 2001

Contact: Jennifer Wilson 011 482 2511/083 652 8524 (note new number)