Pick n Pay backtracks on strike

Johannesburg - Pick n Pay intends withdrawing its application for an interdict to stop a planned strike by the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu), it said on Tuesday.

The application would be formally withdrawn in the Johannesburg Labour Court at 10:00 on Wednesday, said company spokesperson Tamra Veley in a statement.

She did not say why the company was withdrawing the application.

Saccawu said it would proceed with the strike on Friday in response to what it called the company's "racist policies".

"More than 25 000 Saccawu members will take to the streets in Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth," union spokesperson Mike Abrahams said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pick n Pay described Saccawu's racism claims as "a disgrace".

They were "without any foundation and are in any event completely contrary to the company's value system and what it has stood for, for over four decades", said Veley.

Pick n Pay's chief executive officer Nick Badminton rejected "the so-called racist allegations" as factually incorrect.

Veley said: "Some of the allegations refer back to statements that Saccawu says were allegedly made as long as 10 years ago. Saccawu will not tell us why, if these statements were in fact made, it has taken over a decade to raise with us. We reject their allegations outright."

She said in an attempt to address the union's concerns, Pick n Pay had on four separate occasions proposed an independent commission of enquiry be conducted - "which Saccawu has rejected on each occasion".

On Monday, Saccawu said in a statement it had been almost a year since it raised its complaints and concerns with the company.

"Due to the failure from the side of the company to respond to the issues and proposals by the union to address these concerns, Saccawu members are preparing to embark on protected industrial action."

The union said its grievances included inconsistency in its application of discipline, with a bias against black employees and Saccawu members. The union alleged some managers were racist and there was a failure on the part of Pick n Pay to discipline them. The union was also unhappy about the re-employment of white retirees.

White part-time staff were "privileged" as they were often fast-tracked to management positions, while permanent full-time employees were overlooked, it claimed.

- Sapa