Wage negotiations at RCL Foods’ Kdp, Rftn branches
Trade union bemoans the huge remuneration gap between the top hierarchy and the workers.
The South African Industrial Commercial and Allied Workers Union (Saicwu) and RCL Foods are currently locked in wage negotiations at their Krugersdorp and Randfontein facilities.
According to a statement released by the union’s president Simon Munyai on May 30, the union originally took on the company over the issue of their Employee Share Ownership Programme (Esop) which allegedly had to be effective since 2014 but never came to fruition for employees.
Meanwhile though, Munyani told the News on June 9 that the issue of the Esop shares had been set aside for the time being and the focus had shifted to wages.
In the previous statement, Munyani lamented the fact that “… the key people at RCL Foods are the CEO, CFO and the chairman. The aforesaid top hierarchy of the company earned the unbelievable salaries of more than R30 million each per month excluding perks, according to the 2020 and 2021 financial statements and Forbes respectively.”
RCL Food’s head office in KwaZulu-Natal was approached for comment on the issue, and the company’s Corporate Communications Manager Virginia Horseley replied saying, “Current negotiations with employees at our Krugersdorp and Randfontein facilities relate to annual wage increases.
The 2022 wage negotiations are underway in the context of food businesses facing extreme inflationary pressures and rising cost of living impacting most South Africans, including our employees. RCL Foods remains committed to ongoing engagement with our employees to reach a wage deal that will strike a balance between the interests of all of our stakeholders, including consumers and employees.”
Negotiations are ongoing.
