Workers discuss their concerns. Image: Screenshot.
More than a year after they were served with retrenchment letters, a group of South Africa Calcium Carbide (SACC) workers claim they have not been paid out by the company.
On Tuesday, 25 August, the group of workers gathered opposite the gates to the former SACC site on the Karbochem road to discuss what action they can take and to form their own committee with which to approach municipal leadership for assistance.
Former shop steward and SACC representative to the South African Chemical Workers Union (SACWU), T.J. Mkhonza explained the workers’ fight was not a physical one.
“We know the work is gone, but we still have to fight for our money.”
At the time of publication, attempts to contact management of SACC had proven fruitless.
In separate news, Imperial Logistics is planning to retrench about 1,000 of its employees in South Africa. The group has about 2,000 employees in South Africa, Africa and its international operations.
Imperial Logistics CEO Mohammed Akoojee said on Tuesday that the cost-cutting has not yet been implemented.
“There will be retrenchments as part of that, but it will be probably less than 1,000 in terms of the number of jobs that are impacted. These will be across our transport and warehousing businesses within South Africa.”
Akoojee said the company lost about R4 billion in revenue because of the impact of Covid-19, which translated into lost operating profit of about R1 billion in March to May period.
He said the lost revenue has a bigger impact on operating profit because of the high fixed cost base of the logistics business, where about 50% of the costs are fixed.
The impact of Imperial Logistics translating its profits from its international logistics business had a significant impact on the group’s financial results in the year to end-June.
This article first appeared on Newcastle Advertiser and was republished with permission. Additional reporting from Moneyweb.
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