The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) Numsa on Thursday said members remained on strike at the Bidvest SA Container Depot (SACD) in Durban over the retrenchment of 106 workers after the company failed to have the stoppage interdicted by the courts
Bidvest SACD, part of the JSE-listed Bidvest Group, provides cargo and container management as well as supply chain management and other services.
Numsa members of downed tools on January 15 after the union and company management failed to reach an agreement after the company issued a section 189 notice on September 27.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the facility employed 187 people. “Of the 187, 106 are the Numsa members facing retrenchment, and they are not working, so I’d say the strike is affecting the company's operations,” she said. “The company tried to interdict it [the strike] on Tuesday but the matter was dismissed by the courts.”
Bidvest SACD could not immediately be reached for comment, though HR officer Welcome Hlophe previously told Business Day there were “skeleton staff on site, but in terms of when the strike will end, I can’t give an answer to that. But we do have an arrangement”.
Hlubi-Majola told Business Day previously Bidvest SACD has 294 employees in total nationally: “Its work is primarily focused on cargo and container management, and supply chain management services. This includes loading and offloading containers and packing and unpacking goods.”
The reason for the retrenchments was the “the significant downturn and loss of business activity as a direct result of intense market competition, resulting in the under utilisation of warehouse services”, Bidvest said. It also had to do with the challenges affecting the national port system.
Hlubi-Majola said workers were served with dismissal notices stating that their last working day would be January 31.
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