Freight strike hits Christmas deliveries

Stock photo: Major retailers are bracing themselves for serious problems during the festive period as truck drivers' strike expands.

Stock photo: Major retailers are bracing themselves for serious problems during the festive period as truck drivers' strike expands.

Published Oct 8, 2012

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Durban - Major retailers could face serious problems preparing for the busy Christmas holidays as stock-filled containers go undelivered and remain in depots across the country because of the truck drivers’ strike.

And now there is a threat that the strike could spill into the port and rail sectors.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union spokesman, Vincent Masoga, said the union had filed a notice on Friday of its intention to expand the strike, including targeting ports.

“We are meeting again on Tuesday… Our negotiator was willing to reduce the wage demand from 12 percent to 10 percent but the employer would not budge from the 8.5 percent offer,” he said.

National Ports Authority spokesman Coen Birkenstock said the authority was not aware of the union’s intention. “Should the strike happen, it should have a small effect on the ports,” he said.

Andrew Layman, the chief executive of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said there had been a lot of delays in deliveries and, if port workers downed tools, the delays would multiply.

“This has an extremely negative impact on the economy and not only because people cannot get on with business, but the perception this creates abroad is the unreliability of South Africa’s business to deliver.”

Layman added that the global economy was intolerant because it expected goods to move and business to go on. “It does not have the patience to wait for business in a country bedevilled by strikes like this.”

The road freight strike, now in its third week, has been marred by violence and intimidation. Trucks have been torched and non-striking truck drivers have been assaulted in various parts of the country since the strike began.

A Pick n Pay employee said merchandise shipped to Durban with the retailer’s Christmas stock had not been off-loaded and there was a shortage of supply in stores.

“We should have received our Christmas stock such as sweets and biscuits two weeks ago but it is sitting in containers. We have developed a delivery planning strategy so that our perishable goods are delivered at night or during the early hours of the morning,” she said.

A Sunday newspaper reported that poultry producer Astral Foods risked losing some of its chickens if the strike continued, because the transport of feed from Durban harbour had been affected.

The company chief executive Chris Schutte, said the group had also been forced to work at night and weekends. - The Mercury

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