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Major Mfunda, an experienced forklift driver employed by Clover at his dairy in Port Elizabeth, was fired after he refused to work every holiday until 2022. The father of five refused to sign the holiday list for two years and was fired in February for insubordination and refusing to follow instructions. Mfunda has spent the endless months of confinement in South Africa unable to find another job to support her children.
Clover workers across the country who belong to the South African General Industries Workers’ Union (Giwusa), the company’s majority union, are currently on strike. They want a 10% wage increase, down from the original demand of 16%, and for all workers currently hired through labor intermediaries to become permanent employees. Giwusa also wants to end compulsory work on Sundays and holidays.
“The employment contracts say that workers will work on holidays when necessary. It was not strictly enforced, but as of 2019 Clover insisted on enforcing that clause. Last year 104 workers were fired for refusing to work on December holidays, ”said Giwusa General Secretary John Appolis.
Clover’s contracts for general warehouse workers, including forklift drivers, provide for an eight-hour shift Monday through Friday and five hours Saturday, 7 a.m. to noon. Workers are also required to work on holidays and overtime requested by their employer.
This contradicts the terms of the Basic Employment Conditions Act, which prohibits forced labor. The law states that overtime is not mandatory and must be negotiated with employees, and the employer must take into account that workers must spend time with their families.
No respite from work
“We’re [working] a six-day week, but Clover says that if the company requires it, we have to work seven days and holidays, ”said Mfunda, who was employed at Clover for five years before being laid off.
“I told them that I would not sign such a list. Management said I am walking on thin ice, but they are prepared to throw a lifeline on me: I still have to sign the list and for six months I must not disobey them either. I said I’m not going to take that lifeline and do whatever you want, because I’m not going to work seven days a week. Working overtime and on holidays can only be done by mutual agreement. ”
He said that he also explained to management that during December workers need holidays off to relax, visit family members and entertain family members who have come to visit them. “We sacrifice our families all year for Clover. But they said: ‘Either take it or not, it’s an order from above.’ After a disciplinary hearing, I was fired for insubordination and misconduct, ”added Mfunda.
Mazibulo Luguxa, 34, worked at the Port Elizabeth Clover factory for three years. He was fired on March 27 for refusing to work overtime, which by law is a voluntary option. His termination notice from Clover says he was fired for “refusing to carry out a specific, reasonable and legitimate instruction from his team leader. [in] that you left your workplace three hours before the end of the Saturday shift ”.
However, Luguxa’s shift is from 7 a.m. to noon. He said he left at noon and not three hours earlier. Your case is scheduled to be heard in the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission as of November 4.
Luguxa says that once the shift ends on a Saturday, Clover managers generally tell workers to keep working. “When we go to work on Saturday, we have no idea what time we will finish. It depends on the manager. We arrive at 7 in the morning and leave at 12 at night sometimes. If you want us to leave at 5 in the afternoon, we leave at 5 in the afternoon. If you want us to leave at 8 pm, we leave at 8 pm. Sometimes when you have a personal emergency, we all go home because of your emergency, ”Luguxa said.
“We can’t go to a wedding on a Saturday after work because they leave us overtime. If your mom is sick, if your son needs you, it’s the same. You have to stay at work. In December, I received a warning because I had to leave at the end of the shift to look for my daughter. I am six years old and they refused to allow me, but I left, ”Luguxa said.
More work, same salary
Appolis says poor working conditions at Clover are part of the reason for the current strike. “There used to be two assistants per truck, but Clover imposed a system called ‘one truck, one driver’s assistant,’ eliminating one assistant, which means those workers now have an unmanageable workload for the same pay,” Appolis said.
Luguxa says other poor working conditions at Clover include a lack of thermal underwear for workers who spend eight-hour shifts inside a giant refrigerator, and only one pair of work boots and five pairs of socks every three years.
“When we asked for warm protective clothing, the managers told us that the refrigerator was not cold. When we asked them why food is kept there that should be stored below six degrees, they said it was none of our business. We fought a lot. They even tell us that the company does not have extra money to buy PPE from us [personal protective equipment], or even put heaters in a room to warm us during our breaks, ”he said.
Clover canteens are reportedly too small to accommodate workers, who have to eat lunch in supposedly dirty locker rooms, and there is no staff discount on dairy. “Instead, they give us expired food that is inedible. Maybe they take us for pigs, ”Luguxa said.
He said he had to drop out of his studies at the University of South Africa, where he was studying for a certificate in economics and management, because the Clover administration refused to grant him a license to study.
Giwusa says his call for a public boycott of Clover has been quite successful, with activists in Gauteng and Cape Town putting stickers on Clover products announcing the strike.
The union has also called for a boycott of the products of other brands distributed by Clover, including Mageu, Danone, Enterprise, Epic, Kelloggs, Wellington, Red Bull, Crystal, Eskort, and Pick n Pay’s nameless butter and condensed milk. The union marched on Danone’s headquarters in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on October 29.
Some Gauteng supermarkets have had to put up signs on the shelves that read: “We regret to inform you that most Clover products are out of stock due to an ongoing national strike at the Clover company.”
Neither Clover’s public relations firm nor supply chain executive Jacques van Heerden responded to questions submitted on October 27.
On October 31, Clover lost an application in the Johannesburg Labor Court to intercept Giwusa’s pickets in front of his factories.
This article was first published in New frame
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