Sun International Tries to End Strike

January 8 - Following the handing over of a memoranda this week by the striking South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Works Union (SACCAWU) to the management of Sun City and the Wild Coast Sun, Sun International called on the union to attend a high level meeting as soon as possible.

SACCAWU has been on strike since December 4th over a number of issues, the most urgent being their demand for higher wages.

The trade union has demanded that the hotel and gaming group, Sun International, increase wages at 13% across the board, as well as an increase to night shift allowance.

In addition, they demand that employees receive tips and that management ends the policy of averaging working hours.

Sun International has offered an 8% wage increase - an offer, it says, which has been accepted by over 50% of the workers.

In a published response to SACCAWU's memorandum, Sun International defended its offer of 8% and said: "SACCAWU appears not to have taken various financial and economic realities into account, most notably in considering that Sun International's final offer significantly exceeds current CPI and the increases granted to all other employees."

"It is a matter of public record that at the end of the financial year to June 2009, our revenues in South Africa were flat on last year, and our headline earnings per share were down 16%, reflecting extremely tough trading conditions," the group added.

"Against this background, various strategies implemented by the management of Sun International have meant that we have avoided any retrenchments," it concluded. "This should be seen in light of the fact that in 2009, approximately 1 million jobs were lost in the formal sector countrywide."

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