TENBOSCH – Barely a day after the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) joined the month-long Umbhaba Estate farm workers’ strike, workers have been issued with letters of dismissal.
This comes after Fawu and Cosatu handed over a memorandum of demands on behalf of striking workers to the company’s management representative after a peaceful and protected march on Monday morning.
It is alleged that the strikers received notices of discharge from Umbhaha Estate on Tuesday.
Speaking at the march, Fawu provincial representative, Mr Raymond Mnguni said Fawu will be showing solidarity with the workers during this period.
He said, “We are going to fight our fight to ensure that unions are recognised on this and all other Umbhaba farms. As Fawu and Cosatu workers and leaders, we will try to ensure that Section 21 also recognises farm workers, so that they are also be protected,”
According to Mnguni the sectoral wages determined by law are not enough. He said, “It does not sustain a person. At the moment workers are earning little money and they need to go to town and buy groceries and also pay to have their children taken to school.”
“When we fight we say we are not fighting so we can take the money they give us to buy expensive cars, we normally say we are fighting for survival, not luxury. We don’t have companies, we are selling our hands. However, the employer is failing to do the very easy thing of allowing a trade union to operate, and to respect the law of the country,” Mnguni added.
He said by denying trade unions to operate on the farm, the employer was confirming the allegations that there was a lot which was not in order on the farm.
“We have also heard that there are graves on the farm,” said Mnguni. He furthermore called on the ANC to help them as Fawu in establishing a commission to investigate what was happening on farms.
Mnguni added that the employer should not damage relations between our foreign and home brothers.
“Because we are aware that he employs our foreign brothers and pays them at a rate which he wishes, it appears as if we are xenophobic when we speak out, but we are not. Cosatu has a resolution that workers coming from other countries should join trade unions. We are also pleading with you to do so,” Mnguni added.
Heavily armed police were present on and outside the Umbhaba Estate property, this was a cause for much noise among protesters.
“We don’t want anther Marikana incident here, why are they so armed? Why have they brought these guns?” asked Mr Senzo Ndluvo. Traffic on the N4 was temporarily disrupted during the march to the Umbhaba Estate gates, however it was flowing freely on the Tenbosch Road outside the farm.
At the time of going to press it was reportedly still flowing freely.
The striking workers have given the company until tomorrow, December 4, to respond to their demands, and have further promised to turn violent should there be no response.
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