Strikes to hit energy, drug firms

Johannesburg - A full-blown strike in the petroleum and pharmaceuticals sector will kick off on Monday, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) said on Thursday.

"Hundreds of companies will be affected and amongst the major ones are Sasol [JSE:SOL], Engen, BP, Caltex Refinery, Total, Sapref, AEL, Nampak Glass, Consol Glass, Omnia Holdings [JSE:OMN], Adcock Ingram Holdings [JSE:AIP], Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS], Kimberly Clark and many others," Ceppwawu general secretary, Simon Mofokeng said.

About 70 000 workers are expected to go on strike.

This would include members of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa).

Industries affected could include petroleum, pharmaceuticals, glass, industrial chemical, and fast moving consumer goods.

Tissue and Allied Union members would join the strike towards the end of next week, he said.

"The companies affected here will be amongst others, Sappi [JSE:SAP], Mondi Pak, PG Bison and so on."

Mofokeng said workers wanted a wage increase of 11% to 13% across board. Wages must be a minimum of R6 000 a month.

Other demands were job security, to include an outside bargaining unit category, six months' fully paid maternity leave and a 40-hour working week without pay loss.

"Our demands are in line with the living wage campaign of Cosatu adopted at the recent central committee.

"The strike comes as a direct result of the intransigence and greed of the employers. Employers have, over the past two months in wage negotiations, consistently refused to accede to the legitimate and reasonable demands of the unions and members," he said.