For the last 17 years, Eve Gold Jewellery in Botshabelo near Bloemfontein has been exploiting its 225 employees. Imagine a breadwinner earning less than R300 after two weeks!
Employees had had enough. They submitted a list of demands which the company called a ‘shopping list’. Amongst those demands was for their wages to increase to at least a minimum of R450 per fortnight, pension deductions, payment of overtime, sick leave payment, family responsibility leave, protective clothing, public holidays payment and annual leave.
On April 20, the Union gave the company 48 hours notice of a legal strike after reaching a dead-lock. On April 24 workers embarked on a protected strike that lasted 5 weeks. An agreement was reached where the wages were increased to at least R350 per fortnight, pension registration for the first time as well as protective clothing amongst others.
These victories did not go down well with management. They tried to victimise Numsa members: they put them on short time without consulting with them, on July 4 one of the senior managers physically assaulted a female employee in full view of other staff members. Immediately they stopped work and demanded the suspension of that manager but the company refused.
Numsa tried to intervene, but with no success. Workers were subjected to a disciplinary hearing which they boycotted saying they will not return if the manager is still within the company. As Numsa News went to print, we were told that new workers were being employed but the company denies that they are employing them.
It says that it is ‘training’ workers. But we all know the language of the capitalist – they don’t dismiss, they retrench; they don’t decrease workers’ salaries, they save; now they don’t employ, they train. Why should we believe this when they cannot train the current staff? Numsa calls upon all workers, especially in the Botshabelo area, to stop their families taking the work of the striking workers as they will also be subjected to the same conditions of employment and even worse.
Numsa further calls on the Israeli Ambassador to intervene as this company is 100% owned by Israeli people. Our members have nothing to do with the current war between Lebanon and Israel but they are suffering more than those in Israel and Lebanon.