The General Secretary of the Food and Allied Workers Union [FAWU], Katishi Masemola, successfully addressed a mass meeting on members and interested workers at De Doorns on Sunday 20th January 2013 at the soccer field.
In his address, Katishi Masemola canvassed members on the need to call off a strike in farms that have concretely made an offer that significantly adjust wages to more than R100 a day or to suspend a strike in farms where a concrete offer is on the table while still below the R105 a day but with genuine negotiations progressing. FAWU is pleased that its leadership has been mandated to enter into negotiations and, out of its discretion or reading of the dynamics relating to those talks, enter into agreement with willing farm owners.
Today, 21 January at 17h00, FAWU will meet its members again for a much clearer mandate on continuation, suspension or calling off of the strike.
However, members and workers have asked FAWU to still pursue AgriSA, especially Hex Valley Table Grapes Association (HVTGA), for direct talks for the entire sub-sector, including for the Paarl area of table grape producing farms.
As a consequence, FAWU has written a letter to the Chairperson of HVTGA), Mr Michael Laubscher, calling for such negotiations to be convened as soon as possible but on an urgent basis. While, the cry for R150-a-day wages remains a clarion call by workers, the leadership will be flexible, as mandated, to approach these talks with an open mind.
We hope that the association will see it fit to come to the table and enter into the negotiations with FAWU in the best interest of the industry (i.e table grapes), its stakeholders and the entire country. We also hope that individual farmers will equally see it fit to enter into talks with unions.
Please call the General Secretary at 082 467 2509 or the Provincial Organizer, Sandile Keni, at 082 493 1230 for more information. Katishi Masemola FAWU General Secretary
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