"The dispute on wages is already scheduled to be heard under the auspices of the CCMA on August 19," said company chief executive Nick Badminton.
"It is not our policy to comment specifically on any item which may be deadlocked or in dispute before all processes available to resolve these have been exhausted, nor is it our policy to conduct wage negotiations through the media," he said.
This comes as the union on Monday, 4 August 2008, warned of a strike if wage negotiations were not settled.
"Workers demand R500 across the board increases, a minimum of R3000 for a one-year term. The company's offer stands at R320 with a minimum of R2575," said union spokesman Mike Abraham.
Saccawu also wanted a one-year agreement while the company wants the agreement to run for three years.
"Workers are extremely angry about this," said Abrahams. He added that the reconstruction process at the company which included rebranding, had changed the company's attitude towards the union.
It resulted in the overpayment of foreign consultants and foreign national had been recruited into management positions.
"Everybody seems to be in agreement the horrible new logo is not worth the R110 million. Now, when hard toiling workers and their union put forward reasonable wage demands, the company uses the costs of restructuring as an excuse to deprive workers of a decent wage increase," Abraham said.
The union also accused the company of staging an attack against it while workers had to deal with the rising costs of food and petrol.
"The battle lines are drawn and massive strike action is looming," said the union.
Source: Sapa
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