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Media Coverage

CWAO News Article

30 October 2024

Mister Sweet workers shut down labour department

They claim that an inspector left a Mister Sweet factory with 'a lot of packets of sweets'

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CWAO News Article

28 October 2024

Another worker loses a finger at Mister Sweet

A second worker has lost a finger in an accident at Premier's Mister Sweet factory in Germiston, according to the Simunye Workers' Forum, as the strike by permanent workers enters its 11th week.

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CWAO News Article

27 September 2024

Mr Sweet worker loses finger on duty

Premier insists that casual workers currently running production at the Mr Sweet Factory are qualified

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CWAO News Article

23 September 2024

Newsroom Afrika on scene at Mister Sweet in Germiston

Workers at Mister Sweet in Germiston, south east of Johannesburg, say they're suffering financially since they embarked on a wage strike last month

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CWAO News Article

14 September 2024

Tensions simmer at Mister Sweet as striking workers lower basic salary demand

Company says amid the strike it is distributing sweets at reduced capacity

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CWAO News Article

12 September 2024

Premier bid to interdict strike at Mr Sweet fails

The three-week strike at Premier FMCG 's confectionery plant, Mister Sweet, is set to continue after the Johannesburg Labour Court shot down its attempt to interdict and halt the strike.

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CWAO News Article

11 September 2024

Retail workers need 21 months to earn what CEOs earn in a day

There's a huge chasm between the pay of top executives and workers, says Just Share

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CWAO News Article

11 September 2024

Premier loses court bid to end Mister Sweet strike

The Johannesburg Labour Court has dismissed Premier Group's urgent application to stop workers from striking at its Mister Sweet branch in Germiston.

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CWAO News Article

09 September 2024

Premier Group goes to court to end Mister Sweet strike

Strike at Germiston factory enters fourth week

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CWAO News Article

09 September 2024

Over 600 workers at Mister Sweets Factory have halted production

In Germiston, over 600 workers at Mister Sweets Factory have halted production, demanding a monthly wage increase to R19,500.

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CWAO News Article

23 August 2024

Mister Sweets Factory workers demand sweet deal: R19,500 or no marshmallows!

Over 600 angry workers have shut down operations at Mister Sweets Factory in Germiston, demanding a monthly wage increase to R19,500.

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CWAO News Article

23 August 2024

Strike at Premier sweet factory enters fifth day

Mister Sweet factory workers in Germiston initially wanted salaries raised to R19,500 per month, but have lowered their demands

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CWAO News Article

22 August 2024

Workers strike at Premier Group’s sweets plant in South Africa

Staff at the site making the Mister Sweet brand are demanding a minimum wage and pay increases.

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CWAO News Article

20 August 2024

Hundreds of workers on strike at Premier sweet factory

More than 600 workers down tools at Mr Sweet, demanding a minimum wage of R19,500 a month

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CWAO News Article

17 August 2024

CCMA receives backlash on supporting dismissal of Dis-Chem employee with cancer

Dis-Chem declared the role redundant and terminated Ms Matinketsa on grounds of medical incapacity.

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CWAO News Article

14 August 2024

DIS-CHEM takes flak for firing cancer sufferer

THE Casual Workers’ Advice Office (CWAO) has condemned pharmacy giant Dis-Chem for dismissing a female worker after she was fitted with a stoma bag following cancer surgery and could no longer lift heavy items.

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CWAO News Article

14 August 2024

Fair to fire cancer victim

The Casual Workers Advice Office has condemned the CCMA finding that it was fair for Dis-Chem to dismiss an employee who, due to cancer treatment, could no longer lift heavy bags.

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CWAO News Article

13 August 2024

"It doesn't surprise me": Netizens slam DisChem for firing worker with cancer

Dischem Fired an Employee With Cancer and the CCMA Sided With the Pharmaceutical Franchise

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CWAO News Article

13 August 2024

CCMA sides with Dis-Chem following staffer’s dismissal over medical incapacity

The Casual Workers Advice Office has slammed pharmaceutical giant, Dis-Chem, after they terminated the contract of a woman with a medical condition.

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CWAO News Article

03 May 2024

Stephen Grootes talks to Sydney Moshoaliba about the increase in wild cat strikes in 2023

New report on strike trends in 2023 shows more wildcat strikes than protected strikes; workers striking mainly for permanent jobs and over wage issues

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CWAO News Article

03 May 2024

Labour Protests | Most 2023 Strikes were for permanentjobs, btter pay

A new report has found there were more wildcat strikes in 2023 than protected ones.

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CWAO News Article

01 May 2024

SA strike activity dipped in 2023, but more than half were wildcat actions - report

Labour action continued to decrease in 2023, with 83 worker strikes reported last year, according to the Casual Workers Advice Office (CWAO).

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CWAO News Article

30 April 2024

Public sector hard hit by strike action

There were 83 strikes in 2023, about half of them in the public service, a report by the Casual Workers Advice Office (CWAO) shows. So far this year there have been 26 strikes, and again, half of them have been in the public sector.

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CWAO News Article

11 March 2024

South Africa women groups pay tribute to Gaza on IWD

South African women's groups celebrated Women's History Month marked from Friday, March 8, International Women's Day, in a sombre mood with a moving nod to the besieged women of Gaza.

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CWAO News Article

08 March 2024

The SWWF Celebrates International Women's Day

This year we mark International Women's Day in the context of a genocide being carried out against Palestinia women in the Gaza Strip by Israel.

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CWAO News Article

05 March 2024

LISTEN | Activists slam minimum wage as 'entrenching apartheid's cheap black labour'

The national minimum hourly wage increase from R25.42 to R27.58 entrenches apartheid’s cheap black labour, says the Casual Workers' Advice Office (CWAO).

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CWAO News Article

19 January 2024

Labour broking alive and well while the CCMA bumbles

Labour-hiring firms still use exploitive labour broking - and the bargaining councils, CCMA and labour court are complicit in this

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CWAO News Article

19 January 2024

Workers take newly merged Heineken-Distell to the CCMA

Unions say merger conditions set by Competition Tribunal have not been met

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CWAO News Article

18 October 2023

Pay out workers pensions now!

On 18 October 2023, The Unpaid Benefits Campaign held it's first successful AGM after it's launch in 2017. The AGM was co- hosted by the CWAO/ILRIG at the CWAO offices in Germiston.

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CWAO News Article

13 October 2023

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza

CWAO and Simunye Workers Forum members joined the PSC and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Sandton on 12 October to protest against the Israeli bombings and massacres of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip

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CWAO News Article

05 October 2023

Simba factory workers down tools over 'unfair' transport deductions

The company is in the Labour Court on Thursday afternoon to get an urgent interdict against the strikers

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CWAO News Article

15 September 2023

Simba lambasted for dismissing 52 temporary workers without valid reasons

The temporary employment service (TES) that provides its employees to snacks company Simba claims that it has not contravened any labour laws pertaining to the recent dismissal of 52 workers who were allegedly notified within nine days of their dismissals.

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CWAO News Article

07 August 2023

Strike Barometer: Most stoppages linked to wage issues

At least 39 strikes were recorded in the first half of 2023, with the majority concerning wage-related issues including non-payment of wages, overtime and allowances.

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CWAO News Article

20 July 2023

A Voice for the Unheard

In South Africa, there are millions of people who are informally employed and so often unprotected to their employers and the labour market.

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CWAO News Article

18 July 2023

Registrar to fight court decision allowing Simunye Workers' Forum to register as a trade union

Labour Court ruling cannot go unchallenged, says Registrar of Labour Relations

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CWAO News Article

04 July 2023

INSIDE LABOUR | SA's newest union held its first protest. It ended in tragedy

Saturday was the first protest by the SWF as a union recognised as such by the 21 June ruling of Judge André van Niekerk. But then five people got shot, writes Terry Bell.

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CWAO News Article

27 June 2023

Labour court ruling may prompt more to join workers forums

The judgment overturns a decision by the registrar of trade unions, who refused to register the forum as a trade union

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CWAO News Article

27 June 2023

Simunye Workers Forum members shot during protest

Four members of the Simunye Workers Forum and bystanders were shot on Saturday afternoon after a meeting with the owner of a bakery in Germiston, east of Johannesburg.

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CWAO News Article

23 June 2023

Major court victory for trade union

Simunye Workers Forum is a genuine trade union, not "a vehicle for enriching individuals" says judge

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CWAO News Article

19 June 2023

Labour relations registrar in court for alleged refusal to list workers forum as union

Casual workers' association Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) has launched a case against the registrar of labour relations, Lehlohonolo Molefe, for the alleged refusal to register it as a trade union.

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CWAO News Article

09 February 2023

Strike activity drops to levels last seen in 2014

A study by the Casual Workers Advice Office shows strike activity falling to levels last seen in 2014, most of them related to wages and related issues.

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CWAO News Article

08 February 2023

Sydney Moshoaliba of CWAO talks to Kaya FM

Report Finds Sa Strike Activity Has Fallen By 27%

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CWAO News Article

24 January 2023

Heineken urged to shield Distell casual workers from sexual abuse

Appeals for commitments from Distell to eradicate all abuses of temporary workers

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CWAO News Article

24 January 2023

Commission for gender equality to launch investigation into allegations of sexual exploitation of vulnerable workers at liquor companies' operations

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has noted disturbing allegations of labour brokers demanding sexual favours from vulnerable job seekers in return for job placements at liquor companies Heineken and Distell

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CWAO News Article

21 January 2023

Heineken-Distell deal: Brokers demanded sexual favours of temporary workers, tribunal hears

The Competition Tribunal is hearing arguments ahead of its decision about whether Heineken's takeover of Distell should proceed.

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CWAO News Article

26 November 2022

In conversation with Deliwe Kupe

For POWERBoardroom Sifiso Skenjana talks on the details surrounding a labour broker axing 21 women just before Christmas with Deliwe Kupe - CWAO, Organiser

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CWAO News Article

22 November 2022

Labour broker axes 21 vulnerable women just before Christmas

The Casual Workers' Advice Office (CWAO) is referring a dispute to the CCCMA for a group of 21 Germiston-based women workers who were fired unjustifiably by the labour broker Phakisa on 18 November 2022.

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CWAO News Article

27 September 2021

Nowhere to turn for abused bakery workers

Bakery workers in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape were left destitute after their employer, Zahid Desai, chased them from their workplace following a wage dispute

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CWAO News Article

03 May 2021

Desperate workers say the CCMA is failing them

Covid-19 and the dire financial state of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) have left workers vulnerable to unfair dismissals and con artists who try to exploit them.

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CWAO News Article

09 April 2021

Workers pay for CCMA services that were once free

CCMA in Benoni 'has outsourced to the internet cafe next door'

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CWAO News Article

19 November 2020

CCMA remains coy over dumping workers’ reports

The Casual Workers Advice Office released a statement saying they have learned the CCMA will no longer be mediating disputes between employers and employees due to a R600 million budget cut.

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CWAO News Article

02 July 2020

New Era dismisses six workers in Germiston

New Era’s parent company, Golden Era, issued suspension notices to 86 workers when they refused to work after at least 12 staff members tested positive for Covid-19. On 26 June, six of those workers were dismissed

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CWAO News Article

09 June 2020

The CCMA in a time of Covid-19: delaying and denying justice?

If the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration can’t even read its emails, it may as well close down

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CWAO News Article

01 June 2020

All workers can now benefit from UIF relief scheme

Distressed workers not registered with the UIF can now apply for special Covid-19 relief benefits, and they no longer have to depend on their employers to do it on their behalf.

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CWAO News Article

04 September 2019

Worker advice office a casualty of Joburg looting

Casual Workers Advice Office vows to continue its work

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CWAO News Article

29 November 2018

Striking Heineken Workers to demonstrate outside department of Trade and Indusry in Netherlands

Heineken made $1.61 billion in profits last year but it refuses to recognize its workers in South Africa who continue to live in extreme poverty and in fear of victimization when they fight for their rights.

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CWAO News Article

11 November 2018

Labour broker workers win battles, but losing war

A potentially game-changing amendment to South Africa's labour law, followed by a precedent-setting Constitutional Court case, have still not delivered the goods for labour broker workers who face a number of tactics by employers to avoid the cost implications of the so-called deeming provision.

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CWAO News Article

05 November 2018

Victory for workers at Dis-Chem

Employees who had been working through a labour broker to become permanent

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CWAO News Article

01 November 2018

Heineken strike leaders fear dismissal

rewery workers want better conditions and to be insourced

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CWAO News Article

19 September 2018

Labour Court Order bans strikes at Heineken

A Labour Court Order has effectively banned workers at Heineken's Sedibeng brewery from striking

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CWAO News Article

06 July 2018

CCMA 'improperly' postpones workers' hearings

Workers advocates have accused the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) of unfairly postponing arbitration hearings at the behest of employers.

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CWAO News Article

01 November 2017

Heineken issue ferments: Labour-broking shows few signs of disappearing

Martha Xakaza is a single mother born and raised in Soweto. She takes three taxis from her house in Vosloorus to get to work for her 12-hour shift, which starts either at dawn or at 6pm.

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CWAO News Article

29 July 2017

Companies using labour brokers to evade workers’ rights

Labour Relations Act unlawfully circumvented by middlemen despite judgment

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CWAO News Article

16 July 2017

Labour brokers take fight to court

Labour brokers will have at least another year’s grace before the contentious “deeming” provision – introduced into labour law at the beginning of 2015 – potentially shuts down a large part of their industry.

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CWAO News Article

20 October 2016

CCMA victory for non-unionised workers

It will be easier for workers to get representation

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CWAO News Article

21 September 2016

Rights groups challenge CCMA rule book

Labour rights groups have lauded the Labour Court’s judgement which will see many non-unionised workers make their own choice of representation at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

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CWAO News Article

01 October 2015

A permanent job is hard to find

It's mid-morning at a construction site in Rosebank. It is one of several sites in this Johannesburg suburb, where upmarket apartment complexes and square, clinical-looking hotels will soon replace ageing blocks of flats and houses.

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