Some staff members of Samrand Steers allege their salaries have not changed since 1991, EFF intervenes

Representatives of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have been in negotiations with Steers, situated at Ultra City in Samrand, since 9 June.

On 18 June, a meeting was held between management and some of the EFF representatives.

The employees’ grievances are as follows:

• Salaries – It is alleged that some employees, who started work there since 1991, still earn the basic salary of R3 200 and allegedly expressed that the employer did not comply with the annual increase rate of the bargaining council
• Annual leave – When employees take their annual leave, they are not paid for the days on which they are on leave
• Rate – Employees alleged they don’t know how much their hourly rate is
• Tips – After employees receive tips for their good service, the employer allegedly takes the money to fix his equipment or other damages
• Training – The employer allegedly forces the employees to use their days off for training and allegedly does not provide transportation and meals for the training sessions
• The employer deducts R15 from every employee’s salary whenever someone from the staff dies but the employer doesn’t contribute anything to that money.
• The Ultra City Steers branches have about 85 employees altogether. The EFF said they had been in discussions with Steers’ management, including Joe Bishop who, according to the EFF, is one of the partner-owners of one of the Samrand Ultra City Steers branches.

Bishop was contacted by Midrand Reporter but has refused to comment on the matter stating that it was an internal matter and would not be dealt with via the media.

Resolutions after the management meeting were as follows:

• Salaries – Steers has promised to investigate the salaries matter and whether it was true that long-service staff were still earning less than R5 000
• Payslips would be issued to all employees
• The directors will be consulted on this matter and a report will be compiled and provided in July
• A leave roster will be drafted and employees will switch among themselves if need be and the matter regarding payment during leave will be investigated.

More discussions will be taking place between the EFF and Steers.