"Saccawu furnished the requisite 48 hours' notice to embark upon industrial action countrywide at Sun International properties, in relation to the wage dispute declared on 10 June 2009," said spokeswoman Enid Vickers.
In response, Sun International notified Saccawu of its intention to enforce a lock out of bargaining unit members.
Contingency plans were in place at all Sun International properties to ensure that its hotels and casinos would continue to operate fully throughout the duration of the strike action, said Vickers.
Saccawu said on Thursday that Sun International, as one of the most successful hospitality companies in the country, could afford to pay its workers more.
"Despite the economic downturn the company has shown remarkable expansion and growth in profits, yet workers have to turn to the streets to get the company to consider reasonable increases," Saccawu said.
The union said changes in the company were necessary ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
It is demanding a 13% wage increase backdated to 1 July 2009, more employees hired on a full-time basis and an end to the use of labour brokers, a night shift allowance of R7 per hour, an end to the use of interns and changes to tip allocation and collating working hours.
Source: Sapa
Published courtesy of
