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Ackerman, Saccawu stand off over strike  Comments
December 18, 2009

By Florence de Vries


More fuel was added to the racism blaze between Pick n Pay and the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) yesterday.

An incensed Raymond Ackerman, the outgoing chairman of the supermarket group, wrote an open letter in which he described his outrage at Saccawu's accusations of racist actions at the group.

Saccawu hit back, saying Ackerman's decision to circulate an open letter "in answer to the issues of racism in the workplace" was an "unfortunate" choice when he had the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the union to resolve the problems.

Ackerman wrote that Pick n Pay's 43-year history spoke for itself.

"Both the company and I suffered significant abuse at the hands of former politicians for our stand on human rights for black South Africans," he said. "We were harassed for our decision to violate the Job Reservation Act and promote black South Africans to positions they had earned in Pick n Pay."

Saccawu members at Pick n Pay will take to the streets in Cape Town today, following a one-day strike last Friday to highlight the union's accusations of racism levelled at chief executive Nick Badminton.

Ackerman was adamant: "They have provided no evidence to their blanket accusations and have made vague references to a comment that was allegedly made by our chief executive, according to them, over a decade ago." He added that Saccawu had not explained why it had taken 10 years to raise the complaint and that Badminton called the claims "utter nonsense."

Saccawu president Amos Mothapo said that either Ackerman had not kept abreast of developments or he refused to accept all the evidence provided by Saccawu.

"As for the accusations against Badminton, it has never been disputed by the company throughout the negotiations. Workers still demand a public apology from the chief executive, but more importantly for us it is more than the fact that the derogatory comment about blacks' capacity to learn was made some years back, but rather that such thinking seems to be consistent with problems currently experienced at the workplace," Mothapo said.


The union's issues had always been clearly stated throughout a year of meetings with the company, Mothapo said, and they were reflected in its memorandum.

Whereas Pick n Pay had offered the union a commission of enquiry at least four times, Saccawu outrightly rejected it, saying such a process would not look at the primary failures of existing policies to address the problems of racism.

It added that an enquiry would look at specific cases and treat them in isolation rather than looking at the failure of transformation within the company, as if there was no connection between the two.

"Further, listing a few names of blacks in senior positions does not answer the presence of racist practices within the company. It does not contradict the actual figures nor does it negate the experiences of racist practices by workers on the shop-floor," Mothapo said.

Saccawu rejected Ackerman's "mild indignities and abuse he suffered at the hands of politicians", adding that there was no comparison to the plights of its members.

Ackerman wrote: "I am entering my last three months as chairman of Pick n Pay. We have in the past and will continue to work diligently against any form of racism. But we will not tolerate this abuse and deliberate action on their part to damage our reputation and weaken our resolve. We will never disadvantage our people because of the behaviour of their union.

He added: "We have over 39 000 employees. There are going to be times when someone, somewhere, behaves less than perfectly."

Mothapo said the failure of transformation policies was at the heart of the campaign.
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Showing page 1 of 1 comment pages, 5 total comments
36 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Parasites prevail. All they want is massive cash "settlements" for blatently doing "bugger all". Raymond Ackerman is the only real 'leader" this country has ever seen, and judging by this pathetic self-gratifying ANC, ever will see.
37 Weeks ago anon wrote :
have a look at Shoprite! thats racism and nepotism....
37 Weeks ago Black sell-out wrote :
I am a black South African and because of what PnP is experiencing now, I am not a fan of employing black people. I have worked had ans made sacrificed to be where I am. For me to now go out and 1. Employ people who don't really want to work 2. Who have a sense that they are entitled to more money for the work that they don't want to do in the first place - when I refuse they call me a sell-out and the white man's puppet...Thanks to the ANC for leaving us the legacy of moaners and complacent workers. My father fought alongside the so-called liberators and today, the struggle he was a part of is nothing but a joke. I am a sell-out and Raymond Ackerman is racist? Our presidents and ministers are driving around in R1million rand cars at the expense of these people who are calling Raymond Ackerman a racist a while he has made sure that the very same people have jobs to feed their families a and pay taxes that buy those R1 million rand cars. Poor education, failing health system, crime⦠while the sell-outs sit in their posh government homes and line their pockets with money supposed to go to bettering lives. Oh no, I am not supposed to go there because that's not the point of this argument. Well pick any argument in this country and see how our black so called leader are quick to make it a race issue. I DARE YOU. Like Malema says "It is all about race". What he forgets to add is: because we can't come up with any other angle that won't incite the jobless, uneducated, ripped-off black South Africans enough. A white Jewish businessman broke the mold many years ago and took blacks into his company to give them opportunities that few had then. And today he is, wait for it RACIST? Viva Mzansi!
37 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Perhaps the four corners of the table should be used to discuss this. This has a potential to damage the reputation of PnP in which case both lose.
37 Weeks ago Baggz wrote :
If they think Pick and Pay is bad they should try Woolworths...
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