Sugar workers strike for 11% wage increase

Production ground to a halt yesterday at some of South Africa’s major sugar producing companies after the Food and Allied Workers Unions (Fawu) went on strike after talks broke down. In a statement yesterday, Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola said 5 600 sugar milling and refining workers would down tools. He said 2 760 of the strikers belonged to Fawu. The union is demanding pay increases of 11 percent and a monthly housing subsidy of R800. Workers picketed outside the operations of some of the major sugar companies in KwaZulu-Natal. One of the affected sugar producers, Tongaat Hulett, which is offering an 8.5 percent rise in pay, confirmed that operations had stopped. The company said the bargaining council was also representing employees from the sugar manufacturing and refining sectors and was involved in talks with company executives to seek a solution. The strike has also affected Illovo Sugar. – Additional reporting by Ayanda Mdluli