Daybreak Farms hit by strike, workers demand 33.3% wage increase

The South African poultry industry if hit by another strike as workers at Daybreak Farms demands 33.3 % salary increase.

It has come to the attention of this website that the workers affiliated with the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) have downed tools on Tuesday.

BusinessTech Africa understands that the workers are demanding a 33.3% wage increase, but the company is offering them 7%.

News24 reports that one of the employees involved in organising the strike, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that while this looks like an unreasonable demand in percentage terms, they are asking for R2 000 a month to top up their current salaries of R6 000.

“The company is only offering a R420 increase for two years,” he said.

“These negotiations started three months ago …but up until today, the company has been saying ‘we are not going to give you anything other than the 7%.”

The employee said staff in Daybreak Farms sites had joined the strike, but the chicken producer had hired casual workers from the communities in which it operates. It is now willing to move closer to the R2 000 demand.

The workers met with Daybreak Farms Acting CEO, Jack Nkogatse, recently. They allege that he wanted to prevent the strike but had to go back to negotiate their salary demands with the board and shareholders.

It is also mentioned that after waiting for his feedback, the employee said they saw no other way out but to embark on a strike, days before Christmas, to try to secure a living wage for themselves and their families.

However, CEO Nkogatse said the company convened seven sittings to negotiate with the workers, including a deliberation at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA).

The company is still offering a 7% increase for 17 months, beginning November 2022 to March 2024. Its offer also includes a 13th cheque in 2022 and a guaranteed 13th cheque for the 2023 financial year and some employees have accepted the offer.

“As a business, Daybreak Farms has various unions that our employees are affiliated to, and at this stage, we cannot confirm the union affiliation of the strikers. What we can confirm is that some of our employees are picketing at our sites,” he said.

“The employer continues to be available for engagements necessary to return operations to normality. The business thus remains hopeful for progressive outcomes should the unions avail themselves for further engagements.”

Nkogatse said operations have been affected, although he couldn’t yet quantify the magnitude of Daybreak’s loss caused by the strike.

The state-owned Daybreak is regarded as one of the largest integrated poultry producers in SA as it supplies a wide range of poultry products from in four provinces and employs about 3 000 workers – it slaughters over a million birds a week.