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Mr Sweet worker loses finger on duty

Premier insists that casual workers currently running production at the Mr Sweet Factory are qualified

27 September 2024 | By Kimberly Mutandiro News | Gauteng

A casual worker at Premier‘s Mister Sweet Factory in Germiston is receiving treatment after his finger was cut off while on duty a week ago.

This is amid a six-week strike by hundreds of the company’s permanent staff members.

The incident is not the first time a worker at the Mister Sweet factory has lost a finger, according to the Simunye Workers Forum.

The striking workers are asking for a minimum of R12,500 for the lowest-paid workers and R16,500 for workers in higher-level positions. But the company has to date stuck to its initial 7% offer.

A casual worker at Premier‘s Mister Sweet Factory in Germiston is receiving treatment after his finger was cut off while on duty a week ago. The worker is among a group of casual workers who were employed by the company amid a six-week strike by hundreds of its permanent staff members.

This is not the first time a worker has lost a finger at the Mister Sweet factory. In August GroundUp spoke to one of the packing workers who lost his left middle finger a few years ago after it got caught in a mixing machine. We were told that the company never compensated the worker and only paid him for the month he was recovering at home (GroundUp cannot confirm this). The worker earns R7,000 and is among those currently on strike for higher wages, among other employment demands.

The Simunye Workers Forum, which represents the majority of the striking workers, say they are concerned that the company has continued to operate using casual workers. According to the Forum, these casual workers have not been properly trained and are expected to operate dangerous machines.

“The casual workers are not qualified to meet the company’s high production levels, and the reports of injuries are proof enough. Premier should just swallow its pride and allow its qualified workers to go back to work and give them better wages,” said Jacob Potlaki, an organiser from the Simunye Workers Forum.

He said some of the casual workers have been sleeping on bunk beds on the company premises to try and keep up with the high workload, breaching health and safety regulations.

In a statement by spokesperson Sibhion O’Sullivan, Premier insisted that casual workers currently running production at the Mr Sweet Factory are qualified. According to the company, officials from the Department of Labour had met with management at the factory on Wednesday and deemed Premier to be compliant with all health and safety requirements.

Despite several negotiation attempts with the company via the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) and Premier’s failed court bid to stop the strike, workers say their demands are far from being met.

The workers, who initially demanded a minimum wage of R19,500 a month, later requested a minimum of R12,500 for the lowest-paid workers and R16,500 for workers in higher-level positions. But the company has to date upheld its initial 7% offer.

Due to the financial strain from the ongoing strike, the Simunye Workers Forum has opened a solidarity account to allow people to make donations towards rent and food for the workers and their families.

According to O’Sullivan, 385 of a total of 602 employees are participating in the strike, and some workers have returned to work over the past few weeks. She said the company would continue to engage with the workers and their representatives to resolve the strike.

Mr Sweet worker loses finger on duty Premier insists that casual workers currently running production at the Mr Sweet Factory are qualified

Press Statement: 25 social movements slam Mister Sweet - Mister Sweet threatens workers – Premier Group CEO pays himself nearly R19 million a year, 185 times more than the Mister Sweet workers are paid

26 September 2024
3pm

Contact people:
* Nandi Vanqa-Mgijima, Casual Workers' Advice Office on 065 848 3196
* Thulani Bukani, Independent Komani Residents Association on 076 313 4254
* Manala Rampo, Unpaid Benefits Campaign, 081 8701414

We, the 25 social movements listed below, from six provinces across South Africa, hereby announce that we will ramp up our boycott of Mister Sweet products.

Collectively, we are alarmed and dismayed at the highly abusive behaviour of Mister Sweet against the workers who have been on strike since 19 August 2024. Mister Sweet is behaving like an Apartheid employer and does not deserve the business from our movements.

Over the past week, the ruthless Mister Sweet has committed these egregious illegal actions:

1) Forced workers to operate dangerous cutting and cooking machinery without training, resulting in several workers sustaining injuries including having their fingers chopped off.

2) Mister Sweet bosses made late night phone calls to workers who are foreign nationals threatening them with instant dismissal if they do not leave the lawful strike and return to work.

3) Mister Sweet bosses enticed some of the striking permanent workers to return to work and once they are alone, inside the factory, forcing them to sign away their permanent contracts in exchange for 9 month contracts or be dismissed.

4) Mister Sweet bosses have forced workers to sign unconstitutional contracts whereby the workers promise to leave the Simunye Workers’ Forum union and not join any other union for three years.

5) Mister Sweet bosses have brought bunk beds into the factory and have tricked replacement workers, with promises of ‘accommodation’, into moving into these unsanitary conditions where they are sleeping in the factory and unable to go home each day.

We, the 25 social movements listed below, are further disgusted that the CEO of Premier Group, which owns Mister Sweet, paid himself nearly R19 million last year (A “basic salary” of R7.7 million and bonuses of more than R11 million = R18 874 000).

This is compared to a workers’ salary of R6000 per month (lowest) or R8500 per month (average workers’ pay).

The increase to the pay of CEO JJ Gertenbach was almost 37%, but he expects the workers to accept 6%.

The vertical wage gap (difference between CEO’s pay and the average wage of the workers who produce the sweets) is 185 – meaning that the CEO is paid 185 times more than the average worker.

Workers at Mister Sweet are demanding a living wage of R19 500. Workers have been on strike for six weeks. We will therefore ramp up our boycott of all Mister Sweet products. The struggle for a living wage is one that all workers can support. We are fully behind Mister Sweet workers as they move forward against the Premier bosses.
Support the strike! Forward to R19 500! Forward to a living wage! Don’t buy Mr Sweet!

Central Karoo Farm Communities Association (Western Cape)
Housing Assembly (Western Cape)
Independent Komani Resident Association (Eastern Cape)
Intlungu Yase Matyotyombeni (Western Cape)
Kwakwatsi Advice Office (Free State)
Maokeng Advice and Research Centre (Free State)
Metsimoholo Community Association (Free State)
Mining Affected Communities United in Action (National)
Potchefstroom Informal Settlement (North West)
Surplus Peoples’ Project (Western Cape)
Labour Community Media Forum (National)
Sovereign Agroecology Food Empowerment (Northern Cape)
Support Centre for Land Change (Western Cape and Eastern Cape)
Sundays River Valley Farm Workers Forum (Eastern Cape)
Valley FM (Western Cape)
Witzenburg Justice Coalition (Western Cape)
Workers World Media Productions (National)
Casual Workers Advice Office (Gauteng)
Simunye Workers Forum (Gauteng)
Surplus People Project (Western Cape)
Women On Farms Project (Western Cape)
Unpaid Benefits Campaign (Gauteng)
Thlolong Legal Advice Centre (Free State)
Ikageng Advisory Centre (North West)
Khanya College (Gauteng)

The Mister Sweet strike is still on! Please support by visiting the strikers outside Mister Sweet in Wadeville, Gauteng or contributing to the Strike Fund.

The strikers are protesting today outside Allan Gray which owns a stake of 10.08% in the Premier Food Group that owns Mister Sweet!

Don't miss the latest episode of Buwa Basebetsi - the Workers' Radio Station!

This week, Buwa Basebetsi reports on the workers who have been injured by machines in the Mister Sweet factory after Mister Sweet bosses put pressure on them to handle dangerous and unfamiliar machinery without proper training.

Mister Sweet has also allegedly breached s17 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by continuing to keep the factory running using untrained casual workers while failing to make sure that they have health and safety officers.

Buwa Basebetsi Updates: Mr Sweet Protest - Injured Workers The SWF has been informed that several casual workers have been seriously injured over the past week in the Mister Sweet factory after Mister Sweet bosses put pressure on them to handle dangerous and unfamiliar machinery. Mister Sweet has also allegedly breached s17 of the Occupational Health and Sa...

SWF Press Statement: Mister Sweet strike: Casual worker's finger chopped, hospitalised after being pressured by Mister Sweet bosses to operate dangerous machinery

25 September 2024

Please contact for interviews:

Organisers:
Jacob Potlaki on 082 810 6134
Edgar Mokgola on 071 455 3500

Mister Sweet Negotiating Team:
Asithandile Jam-Jam on 065 6923738
Solomon Ndaba on 073 706 2633
Lindiwe Maseke on 083 753 5268
S. Ngobese on 066 4754979
Fikile Zwane on 072 462 7077

The SWF has been informed that several casual workers have been seriously injured over the past week in the Mister Sweet factory after Mister Sweet bosses put pressure on them to handle dangerous and unfamiliar machinery.

Mister Sweet has also allegedly breached s17 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by continuing to keep the factory running using untrained casual workers while failing to make sure that they have health and safety officers.

Last week a casual worker who had no experience or training was using the cutter. It was not moving sweets and because the worker had not been trained on what to do, he tried to push the sweets under the cutter and that is how his finger was cut off, workers say.

Workers also report that casuals are operating the cooker, which can be dangerous, without training.

Workers on the scene reported that the supervisor was now getting the blame from management and the injured workers have been told that if they do not speak to the media, they will be rewarded with permanent jobs. This worker was in hospital for a few days.

Mister Sweet is again putting profits before safety. With hundreds of workers out on strike, the company only has a very small workforce sleeping inside the factory to do the jobs of a permanent and skilled workforce.

The sweet-making machines require fully trained machine operators to run them but because these workers are all on strike, Mister Sweet has been recruiting casual workers with no experience in machine operating. These workers are not informed what work they've signed up for and most believed they would only be packaging packets of sweets into boxes.

These injured workers are already living a terrible life, working for
labour brokers without permanent jobs, and now they will be unable to work for quite some time. Mister Sweet has also allegedly said that the injured workers are responsible for injuring themselves.

The attached photo also shows the bunk beds that Mister Sweet moved into the factory last week for these casual workers to sleep on. Again, these casual workers were not told they would be sleeping in the factory in crowded and unsanitary conditions without access to proper bathrooms.

They were only told they were being hired for work and accommodation would be provided. They were unaware that they would be crowded into the factory itself.

[ends]

This is the last in our series of posts about Expanded Public Workers' Programme workers' rights! We hope you have enjoyed the series. CWAO would love to hear from you on 082 812 1934 (WhatsApp or DM us here)...Thank you.

Listen to Mister Sweet workers talking about how the employer does not treat them like human beings, in this week's episode of Buwa Basebetsi, the workers' radio station:

Buwa Basebetsi Updates: Mister Sweet Protest - Week 4 The Mister Sweet strike is in its fourth week and is taking its toll on striking workers. From the 19th of August workers have been demanding R19 500 as their basic salary, but their employer is sticking to their 7% increase across the board. This is despite Mister Sweet being owned by Premier FMCG....

Elitsha News 9 September 2024

Bitter, not sweet! Strikers call for Mister Sweet boycott

by Anele Mbi

Organisations in solidarity with striking Mister Sweet workers have called for a consumer boycott while the company seeks an interdict.

23 community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations are calling for the boycotting of Mister Sweet products during a strike by workers at its Wadeville factory which is entering its fourth week. The workers have been on strike action since the 19th of August and are demanding a living wage of R19,500.

Mister Sweet produces gums, jellies, marshmallows, licorice, chocolate-coated treats, and other sweets, and employs about 600 workers at the factory. The workers, supported by Simunye Workers Forum, have protested outside the factory since they decided to down tools. “I am currently earning R6,000 which is very little and not enough to cover my individual and family’s ongoing normal expenses,” said Zintle Buthelezi. Buthelezi, a packer from Buhle Park, said further that they are not going to stop the strike until Mister Sweet concedes to their demand for a living wage. Most permanent workers at the factory support the strike, she said, but the company had hired labour broker workers to undermine workers’ unity.

‘One of our colleague’s hands
was cutoff by the machine and
we don’t have medical aid’

Malusi Tukela, a machine operator who is originally from Limpopo told Elitsha that he has been working for Mister Sweet for 10 years and is tired of super exploitation. “Our major demand is money, good working conditions and justice. Andrew, our boss, is still racist and the machines we are using in the factory are dangerous. Recently, one of our colleague’s hands was cutoff by the machine. We don’t have medical aid, and our provident fund is very low,” said Tukela.

Another worker David Phala, who is also from Limpopo, complained that he has been working for the company since 2016, but his salary has not gone up. He is earning R7,200 per month. He said their boss is telling them there is no money while the company is raking in millions in profit: “Our company is not only operating in South Africa but also in other African countries such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland.”

Another machine operator, Bheki Zwane from Katlehong said that as workers on the production line, they are struggling to make ends meet. His job includes being a cooker and mixing the ingredients for sweets. He said that he cannot survive on his salary of R6,000 since he spends R2,000 per month on transport alone. “Imagine I am paying rent, buying food, have kids and a family to support. How can I survive and do all these things on a mere six thousand rands,” said an angry Zwane.

The Food and Allied Workers Union
is not supporting the
demand for a living wage

One of the leaders of the strike, Abigail Mangena from Germiston reported that the strike was the initiative of the workers themselves. The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) shopstewards operating at the factory, she said, are not supporting their demand of a living wage, instead wanting workers to accept a 7% increase which is only about R500. According to Mangena, their demand for a wage increase is not new but goes as far back as 2018 when they started engaging the company to improve their working conditions.

Fawu’s spokesperson, Dominique Martin confirmed the union is not participating in the strike because their members settled for the 7% offer which they negotiated as the majority union at the factory.

Mister Sweet was bought by Premier FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) in 2021. Spokesperson for Premier, Siobhan O’Sullivan refused to answer specific questions posed by Elitsha, referring us to their media statement instead. “In April 2024, Premier reached an agreement with the union, Ucimeshawu [United Chemical Industries Mining Electrical State Health and Aligned Workers’ Union], to implement a 7,0% wage increase backdated to January 2024, which is above average wage inflation.

Whilst this was accepted by the majority, some employees rejected the increase, demanding a R19,500 per month basic wage and a R15/hour increase for workers earning more than R19,500. The matter was referred to the CCMA by employee representatives and no agreement was achieved. Notice of intention to strike was received from the workers forum on 14 August 2024. Premier issued a lockout notice for employees participating in the strike,” reads their statement.

According to Simunye Workers Forum, the company has applied for an interdict against the strike, which will be heard in court on Tuesday. Premier made R921-million in profit which was an increase of 15.8% from the previous year. Ighsaan Schroeder, the coordinator of Casual Workers Advice Office, a major supporter of the strike action, said Premier is a rich company linked to the Shoprite multi-billionaire Christo Wiese. One of the five richest people in South Africa, Wiese is the largest shareholder of Premier, according to Schroeder.

Bitter, not sweet! Strikers call for Mister Sweet boycott Organisations in solidarity with striking Mister Sweet workers have called for a consumer boycott while the company seeks an interdict.

Mister Sweet radio update for the week! Listen here: https://iono.fm/e/1480424

With comments from workers and sound from the Labour Court judge dismissing Mister Sweet's attempt to interdict the strike.

Listen to the workers' advocate arguing in court!

Please support the strike fund and let's teach this ruthless employer a lesson!

Buwa Basebetsi Updates: Mr Sweet Protest - Labour Court victory The Simunye Workers Forum union has defeated Mister Sweet's attempts to bring an interdict against the strike at its factory in Johannesburg which began on 19 August. Johannesburg Labour Court judge J Daniels recently ruled that the employer was unable to show any link between the alleged violence t...

Here is the Labour Court judgment against Mister Sweet and in favour of the workers!