“It’s not over,” replied Philip Jennings, the general secretary of UNI Global, when asked by Business Report yesterday what he thought of the Competition Tribunal’s decision on the merger between Walmart and Massmart.
Jennings, who is in South Africa to address the Cosatu meeting, said: “Walmart thinks it’s over but nobody else does.”
After Jennings’ address yesterday, the Cosatu central executive committee unanimously supported a motion to begin planning steps for mass action.
According to a statement issued by UNI, Cosatu is mobilising for action and next week unions representing Massmart workers across Africa will meet in Johannesburg.
UNI Global, a Swiss-based global trade union representing 900 trade unions and 20 million workers worldwide, had provided support for the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) during its intervention in the proceedings before the competition authorities.
Jennings said that UNI and the South African unions were studying the tribunal’s reasons closely and they believed that Saccawu’s decision to submit an appeal was more than justified. UNI is supporting Cosatu and Saccawu in their preparations for an appeal of the tribunal’s decision and it is encouraging the government to also look into the deal.
Jennings said Walmart’s entry into the South African market could not simply be left in the hands of judges.
He called on Parliament to re-examine the transaction and in particular the local procurement issues.
Jennings said that it was apparent from media reports that Walmart was currently on a “charm offensive” in South Africa. “But the charm offensive has focused only on prices, Walmart needs to do something about its relationship with government and labour.”
With reference to the tribunal’s reasons for its decision to grant conditional approval, Jennings said he was surprised that the tribunal did not believe its job was to make things better but merely to ensure things did not get worse.
“There seems to be no consideration of the nature of competition that is coming to South Africa, this is an enormous player… it is five times larger than its next four competitors combined,” Jennings said. “If Walmart was a country it would be in the (Group of 20).”
Competition lawyers seem generally uncertain as to whether Saccawu’s decision to appeal the tribunal’s approval will be pursued to the end, including the Competition Appeal Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court, or whether it is merely a negotiating tactic aimed at securing some ground from Walmart. One lawyer pointed out that apart from the costs, which are considerable, the unions did not have much to lose.
The conditions that have been imposed by the tribunal, which are not very onerous, would not be set aside unless Walmart and Massmart decide to cross-appeal. - Ann Crotty