Lydenburg - Lydenburg, News, Views & Information

On Thursday their landmark R66million lawsuit against the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu), was heard. Judgment was reserved.

The workers, all salespeople, are fighting the union for depriving them of past, current and future earnings.

They have accused Saccawu of going behind their backs to negotiate and implement a new salary structure that made them earn less.

The issue in dispute is a 2006 salary agreement signed between Saccawu and Makro, which the employees say they did not agree to.

In October 2005, the members claim, they had rejected an offer to pay them a flat rate of R3500 a month plus 10percent commission.

Before that offer they were paid on commission - 20percent of every transaction - which earned them up to R20000 a person. This changed when Saccawu agreed to the new plan, which left them earning between R7000 and R10000 a month.

The applicants, led by Sibuso Ndlovu who has worked at the Woodmead branch since 1994, argued that the union acted contrary to their instructions when they signed an agreement that workers had rejected.

"The terms of the agreement are not the terms contained in the employees counterproposal, which was submitted to Saccawu who was specifically instructed not to accept any terms less than those contained in the counterproposal," they said in their court papers.

The employees argued that after the agreement they received less money than they had been earning before and have in the circumstances suffered prejudice.

"The employees do not know who on behalf of Saccawu signed the agreement. We were never aware of the meeting at which the agreement was signed. We never instructed the union to sign the deal," they argued.

According to their calculations, the workers say they are entitled to R66million - which would cover the period from 2006 until their retirement.

Ashley Slamat, the lawyer for the workers, yesterday declined to comment, saying the case was in court.

Saccawu spokesperson Lucas Ramatlhodi said he was not aware of the court case, so he could not comment.