‘Structural racism’ at heart of winery wage strike
Strike by Robertson Winery farmworkers enters 12th week as salary talks reach an impasse.
|||Johannesburg - Robertson Winery bosses and workers have reached a salary negotiation deadlock, with the workers' union calling on the public not to “drink blood wine”.
Karel Swart, spokesman for the Commercial, Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU), leading the strike, said yesterday that they were still pushing for a minimum salary increase to R8 500.
He said many of the 227 workers on strike earned R2 900 a month at the winery, which represents 30 farms in Robertson and employs 303 people.
Workers are now entering their 12th week of the strike that seeks to also address working conditions. Some workers bared their grievances at a public screening of the documentary film Bitter Grapes at the District Six Museum Homecoming Centre yesterday. The Danish-produced film exposes working conditions at the winery.
The winery told Weekend Argus the union and its affiliated workers were “not acting in good faith”.
Both parties worked with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to reach a resolution but the latter has since exited the talks which were not moving forward.
Swart said: “The CCMA pulled out and said there’s no solution. There’s no trust between the workers and the employer. We are dealing with structural racism. They think they have the right to do what they want with workers.
“The strike is still on. It will go on until one party collapses. We want people to know they should not drink Robertson’s blood wine.”
Farmworker Simon Jacobs, employed at Robertson farm which supplies the winery with grapes, said the strike was necessary, considering the working and living conditions of workers. He said he earned R640 a week for working 45 hours. “Farm bosses gain a lot. They earn millions. We gain nothing,” said Jacobs.
“I’ve worked for 22 years on a farm. I don’t own a house. I live on a farm. I’m 57 years old and I won’t get anything when I retire. It’s very tough to be a farmworker. I’ve seen how abusive white farmers can be.”
Robertson Winery worker Emile Maseko said he earned R3 400 a month before tax deductions.
“It’s slave wages. I can’t even feed myself with that money. There are people who have worked at the winery for many years and still earn that amount,” said Maseko.
“Older people still have the idea of the baas, that they can’t say anything, so they are afraid to speak.”
He added: “Some people are still working. They are not part of the union. They’re boere boeties who work with the white bosses against other workers.
“They come and talk to us and then tell the bosses about our plans so they can get money. Most of them are managers.”
Another winery worker, Marshelene Berdien, said she had earned R2 900 when she started her job in 2009. She now earns R3 400. “I’m striking for a better salary and working conditions,” she said.
“My brother has been a mechanic for the winery for 13 years. He gets paid R8 000. When a white mechanic came to work there, he got paid R17 000.
“My brother had to teach him how to do the job. White mechanics never work late or night shift. It’s only the three coloured mechanics who have to work late.”
While the workers are on strike and not earning a salary, the Claremont Main Road Mosque has helped them with food and other basic needs.
Reinette Jordaan, human resources manager at Robertson Winery, said they were willing to pay workers an extra R400 a month.
“This offer was rejected (by workers) outright,” she said.
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT