Unions are ratcheting up the pressure on dairy producer Clover over its proposed restructuring after the impasse between the company and workers entered its eighth week with employees embarking on strikes across the country.
The unions accuse the company of reneging on the conditions of its takeover by Milco, a consortium of companies led by Israel’s Central Bottling Company, and other smaller partners.
The merging parties agreed to a moratorium on retrenchments for three years and the creation of 550 jobs in Project Masakhane, aimed at improving Clover’s distribution to previously unserved communities.
Clover says economic conditions have forced it to review its operational footprint and embark on retrenchments.
“Unfortunately, as part of this restructure and as a matter of last resort, a section 189 consultation process was implemented. As a business that is deeply committed to its stakeholders and invested in the growth of the country and its people, this decision was not taken lightly,” the company said.
While it will not say how many jobs are at stake, the unions say about 2,000 positions could be on the line.
The value of the deal in which Milco acquired Clover
— R4.8bn
Earlier this week, the unions got some reprieve after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration found in their favour and ordered Clover to pay workers their bonuses due on November 25.
But the unions now want to increase the pressure and force the company to reinstate those who have lost their jobs and halt all retrenchment processes.
This week, the General Industries Workers Union of SA (Giwusa) said it was planning a secondary strike and would intensify calls to boycott the company’s products.
Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei said: “We are looking at a co-ordinated consumer boycott programme which will see our members and young people visiting malls to ensure people do not buy Clover products.”
South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi called on workers to occupy Clover factories in Lichtenburg in North West province and Frankfort and Heilbron in the Free State. “Clover wants to close the factories down and we want workers to take them over,” Vavi said.
“We want them to stop the retrenchments, to stop threatening to close down factories and for the government to reverse the Milco takeover. Their presence is causing misery,” he added.
Clover is closing down Southern Africa’s largest cheese factory in Litchenburg at the end of February due to poor service delivery by the local municipality, raising fears that 300 jobs will be lost. Clover plans to relocate the Lichtenburg production to Queensburgh near Durban.
We are looking at a co-ordinated consumer boycott programme which will see our members and young people visiting malls to ensure people do not buy Clover products
— Mametlwe Sebei, president of the General Industries Workers Union of SA
Milco acquired Clover in a R4.8bn deal as a springboard to the rest of Africa. The takeover saw Clover, a household name with strong dairy brands including Tropika and Crush, and which has operated since 1898, delisting from the JSE.
The Competition Tribunal approved the takeover on condition of a moratorium on retrenchments within three years of the merger and that the merging parties would create 550 jobs in Project Masakhane.
Siyabulela Makunga, spokesperson for the Competition Commission, said the antitrust body is looking into whether Milco and Clover neglected to enforce their commitment.
“We are investigating the alleged breach,” he said.
Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) Gauteng provincial secretary Tebogo Rakoma said that as a result of reneging on the moratorium on job cuts, Fawu will consider taking legal action if the government does not intervene.
“We will have to look in terms of the laws that regulate our economy. Because the Competition Tribunal agreed for this acquisition to happen, we would want to hold them accountable in law to ensure that they enforce penalties,” said Rakoma.
The unions have also called for the nationalisation of Clover to not only save jobs but also the farms that supply the group’s factories with fresh produce.
Rakoma said Fawu envisions the Industrial Development Corporation acquiring Clover on behalf of employees to save factories from closure.
“Those factories are closely linked with the farming industry in this country. If the biggest cheese factory in Southern Africa like in Lichtenburg closes down, we will have a massacre of jobs and the closure of many farms in that region. We want the government to come in to ensure they save the jobs and farms and ensure the economy is protected.”
