JOHANNESBURG - Retailer Shoprite said on Wednesday striking National Transport Movement (NTM) workers were not its employees but those of a service provider contracted by the company.
A notice from NTM on Tuesday said Shoprite, Checkers, U-Save and Hungry Lion stores would all be shut down due to unresolved wage disputes.
"These workers are however not Shoprite group employees, but employees from a service provider with which the group has a contract to render specific services," the company said.
The union said Shoprite, its subsidiaries and labour brokers were paying some employees R400 per week, and that workers rejected this amount as "poverty wages".
READ: Shoprite, Checkers, Hungry Lion stores to shut down over wage issues
"The group confirms that it has received a copy of the notice issued by the union and that employees of the service provider have been on strike at the group's Centurion distribution centre since May 2018," Shoprite Holdings said.
"Our stores have opened this morning for normal trade."