Members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) at Entabeni (Timbadola) outside Makhado blocked farm roads in protest over wages the past week. The workers demand a 15% wage increases, although the employer only offers 8%.

More than 800 workers protested outside Entabeni's main offices on Monday. They also demand the extension of the bargaining unit.

"The workers demand a 15% across-the-board wage increase and this should apply to all office administration staff, who currently fall outside of the bargaining unit. The union therefore demands that the current bargaining unit be extended to accommodate all these administration or non-production employees within certain bands of the company," said the chairperson of FAWU, Mr Eric Chauke.

Chauke said that the union was concerned about the fact that more than 600 employees had been working for more than 10 years on a contract basis. "The workers do not even have uniforms or protective clothing. They must also be granted sick leave when they are not feeling well," he said.

Other temporary workers who spoke to Limpopo Mirror said that they needed their salary of R56 per day to increase to R96 per day.

The manager of Entabeni, a company run by Komatiland Forests, Mr Hans Jenners, referred news enquiries to the national spokesperson, Mr Lesley Mudimeli. Mudimeli confirmed that they had received notice on 28 June of FAWU's intention to embark on an industrial strike on 2 July at all Komatiland Forests operations.

"Several meetings were held between management and union representatives to resolve the dispute regarding the annual wage increases. The negotiations came to a deadlock, with the company offering up to an 8% increase in salaries and allowances, whereas FAWU was demanding an increase of 15%. Other non-substantive demands by the union include the following: the inclusion of administration personnel in the bargaining unit, standby, sleep-out and acting allowances to be increased by the agreed-upon percentage, and the night shift allowance should be equal to all sleep-out allowances," he said.

Mudimeli added that with regard to the inclusion of administrative workers into the bargaining unit, the organisation had approved the terms, on condition that the agreements be amended to reflect conditions of employment. "This will be implemented in the next financial year," he said. He added that Komatiland Forests respected the decision of FAWU to exercise their rights in terms of the labour relations act, following their receipt of a certificate of dispute unresolved, as issued by the commissioner of the CCMA.

However, Mudimeli sited the fact that incidents of violence and intimidation of non-striking employees, stakeholders and customers, or any damage to company property during the strike action, would not be tolerated.

"These infringements will be dealt with in terms of the applicable legislation," he said.

At the time of going to press, the strike was still continuing.