International federation demands Massmart reinstate 400 workers

The International Trade Union Confederation (Ituc) has called on retailer Massmart to unconditionally reinstate 400 employees it fired for striking over a pay increase.

The Ituc, which represents 200-million workers in 168 countries including SA, said Massmart’s conduct breached the UN’s sustainable development goals on decent work and economic growth. Massmart owns brands including Game, Makro and Builders Warehouse.

In a letter dated March 15 to Massmart CEO Jonathan Molapo, Ituc deputy general secretary Owen Tudor said the confederation was deeply concerned that the company, owned by US retail giant Walmart, had elected to bypass SA laws on dispute settlement and resorted to “victimising workers for exercising their rights to freedom of association and expression”.

Makro employees affiliated to SA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) embarked on strike in December 2022 to demand a pay increase of the greater of R900 or 12%. The company refused to increase its offer of 4.5%, which Saccawu spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete said at the time was equivalent to R300. The lowest-paid employees took home about R5,000 a month, he said.

Tshwete said about 379 workers from Makro stores were dismissed about two weeks ago, while about 140 were suspended. The union is challenging the “unfair dismissals” and suspensions at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and was waiting for a date, he said.

“They want to get rid of unions. There were no proper hearings, they just rushed to dismiss them, mass dismissals. Some of their arguments are that workers breached picketing rules,” Tshwete said.

In the letter to Molapo, Tudor wrote: “The actions your company has taken contradict the responsibility of enterprises to respect internationally recognised human rights and labour standards, as set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”

The dismissal also was a violation of the International Labour Organisation’s convention on freedom of association and protection of the right to organise, Tudor said.

“Given that Massmart/Makro is a Walmart subsidiary in SA, your company’s behaviour is also contrary to Walmart’s Supplier Standards 2 and Human Rights Statement 3, which commits Walmart to promoting and respecting human rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, in its global supply chain.

“We demand that you engage with our affiliate Cosatu in the resolution of this dispute, in line with their letter of March 2 2023, and that you unconditionally reinstate all the 400 dismissed workers,” Tudor wrote.

Massmart senior vice-president of corporate affairs Brian Leroni said: “The letter, which is inaccurate and misinformed, refers to the dismissal of 379 employees who acted unlawfully during strike action that took place on 25 & 26 November 2022. The unlawful behaviour was dangerous to customers and staff and, for example, included intimidating and preventing customers from accessing Makro stores.”

Leroni said during the strike Makro repeatedly asked Saccawu to assist by asking their members to stop “their unlawful behaviour”. Saccawu leadership ignored these repeated requests for assistance, he said.

“Makro ultimately turned to the labour court for help, which resulted in the court issuing an interdict ordering Saccawu members to stop behaving unlawfully. The dismissals, which were implemented in March, followed a three month long investigation, followed by a disciplinary inquiry that included opportunity for Saccawu to make representations,” Leroni said.

He said the disciplinary process was, “in every respect substantively and procedurally fair”, adding Saccawu’s decision to involve other parties such as Ituc, “is probably indicative of the lack of confidence that they have in their position”.

“These dismissals could have been avoided if the union and the Makro shop stewards had responded to our repeated requests on the days of the strike, to ask picketing employees to stop behaving unlawfully. We phoned Saccawu officials on numerous occasions to ask them to help the company stop the unlawful behaviour,” Leroni said.

“Our impression is that Saccawu and/or the Makro shop stewards had planned the illegal picketing action and that they deliberately ignored our repeated requests for help.” 

Update: March 16 2023 — This article has been updated with comment from Massmart.

mkentanel@businesslive.co.za