Petrol strike affects Midrand
MIDRAND - A group of over 70 petrol attendants and workers in the retail motor industry visited service stations in the Midrand CBD and along Old Pretoria Road.
They wanted to check if any workers had not paid attention to the call to strike. Workers from Supa Quick Midrand, Engen Garages and BP Garages embarked on a peaceful walk carrying placards that called for a 15 percent raise.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) demanded a R30-an-hour pay increase across the board in all sectors by 2016 for workers earning more than R6000, a night-shift allowance of 20 percent of the normal rate pay and an afternoon shift allowance of 15 percent. A worker on strike who wanted to remain anonymous said, “If they give us the 15 percent we will put down our placards and go back to work.”
Ben Van der Merwe, manager at Supa Quick Midrand, commended the strikers for not destroying any property. He added, “What the workers are asking for is steep, 15 percent is too much for a small company, that wage increase may affect small business owners.” The owner of Supa Quick Kohl Meyer said, “My employees recently got a raise but they still did not report for work for fear of being intimidated by other strikers.”
Lucas Fourie, spokesperson for Tiger Wheel and Tyre Midrand, said the strikers did not get into any trouble around their premises. “Two team leaders from the striking workers came up to us and we told them we respect their rights as long as they respect our property. They asked us if any of our workers were at work because they have to join the strike. We told the team leaders that we advised our staff to go home.”
