CWAO IN THE NEWS

We, the workers of Mister Sweet in Wadeville, are into the second week of our strike for a living wage of R19 500. Many of us have been earning very low wages of R6 000 or R7 000 per month for 10 years now. Workers doing the same job are paid different amounts and no one knows what the basic wage is. Some of us who have been working for the company for 22 years are earning less than newer workers. Some operators are only paid as general workers or packers.

WE ARE DEMANDING A MINIMUM WAGE OF R19 500 AND AN ACROSS-THE-BOARD INCREASE OF R1 500.

Mister Sweet belongs to Premier, which made over R3 billion in profits last year. That’s enough money to build 10 000 houses for workers and their families. Premier itself is owned by big investment companies including Brait, Titan Premier Investments, Allan Gray and even the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). All Premier’s profits go to the shareholders of these investment companies. It should come to us, the workers and our communities who create those profits. The PIC, which is owned by the government, is investing workers’ pension money to make more money – for the bosses.

Mister Sweet is punishing us for fighting for a living wage. It has locked us out of the factory and is demanding that we accept the three-year wage deal it made with two minority sweetheart unions. The company also started reducing the 7% wage offer from the second day of the strike and will keep on reducing it by 0.5% for every week the strike continues until we are faced with a zero percent increase. Instead of negotiating in good faith, the company seeks to further divide workers by training casuals to replace striking workers. Mister Sweet is also making plans to shift production to Manhattan.

We know we are not the only workers facing these kinds of problems. Workers everywhere face similar problems because the capitalist bosses know only one thing: to exploit the labour of workers everywhere. WE ASK YOU COMRADES TO SUPPORT OUR STRUGGLE

FOR A LIVING WAGE.

We also ask you comrades to unite with us in the bigger fight to defeat this capitalist system that brings only misery and suffering for the working class.

Category: CAMPAIGN | PROTESTS