----- Original Message ----- From: Anna Weekes <samwu at wn.apc.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <cosatu-news at lists.sn.apc.org> Sent: Friday, October 15, 1999 6:45 AM Subject: Call for solidarity: Food and Allied Workers Union calls for boycott of Parmalat foods
> Dear Comrades
>
> The Food and Allied Workers Union is on strike here at Parmalat foods
(owner
> of Bonnita and Towerkop products.)
>
> In conjunction with COSATU, FAWU has called for a boycott of all Parmalat
> products until the dispute is resolved.
>
> Please find below an article from today's Cape Argus newspaper with more
> information about the boycott:
> _______________________________________
> Cape Argus Article 14/10/99
>
> Cosatu calls for first product boycott
>
> By Murray Williams
>
>
> October 14 1999 at 10:07AM
>
> The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called the first
> product boycott in the Western Cape this decade - accusing one of the
> world's biggest dairy conglomerates, Parmalat, of deliberately undermining
> the rights of its South African workers.
> But Parmalat denied breaking the law, saying the union could have taken it
> to court had it done so. The province's last major boycott was in the
early
> 1980s.
> Now, Cosatu and its member union, the Food and Allied Workers' Union, have
> urged their members not to buy Parmalat products.
> Parmalat invested more than R1 billion in South Africa 18 months ago when
it
> bought out Bonnita, Towerkop and three smaller dairies.
> At least half of Parmalat's Fawu members are on strike.
> Cosatu on Wednesday attacked Parmalat for "entering the country's labour
> market with a view that South African labour legislation and good
industrial
> relations were being ignored, undermined and swept away".
> "Cosatu wants to pass a clear message to foreign investors - we welcome
> direct foreign investment in productive sectors of the economy. What we
will
> not accept is unlawful acts by any investor. Parmalat must respect the
laws
> of this country."
> Cosatu said Parmalat had "refused to recognise labour legislation
pertaining
> to public holidays, refused to recognise Fawu's organisational rights,
> refused shop stewards access to the work place, and viciously attacked
> workers through unilateral retrenchments".
> But Parmalat has reported that since the strike by a quarter of its South
> African workforce began seven weeks ago, its non-striking workers,
> replacement workers and property had been the target of a wave of violent
> attacks.
> "There has not been one single incident prior or during the current strike
> in which a labour law provision has been transgressed," the company said
on
> Wednesday.
> Johan Louw, the company's human resources executive, said: "Fawu had the
> right to refer such transgressions to the Commission for Conciliation,
> Mediation and Arbitration and/or the Labour Court for intervention, which
> they have not done."
> Fawu's claim that its members were being forced to work on public holidays
> was "particularly unfounded - as even the Basic Conditions of Employment
Act
> provides for work on such days - at special remuneration".
> "Parmalat has never indicated refusal of such payments, but merely wants a
> commitment by workers that they will work on public holidays when so
> requested. After all, the cows do not stop giving milk on public holidays,
> and all factories have limited storage capacity.
> "By making allegations such as these, Cosatu and Fawu give a clear signal
to
> investors that they are not prepared to address problems within the
> parameters of the labour legislation they have been part of writing, nor
> within the economic realities of this country," he said.
> Provincial Democratic Party leader Hennie Bester said while the laws of
the
> country, including its labour laws, had to be obeyed, "it is clear that
the
> trade unions have a vital role in protecting and nurturing outside
> investment in South Africa".
> Bester appealed to Fawu to do everything in its power to stop the attacks
> against Parmalat.
> "By taking an active stance in favour of a negotiated settlement, Fawu
will
> be serving its constituency in the best possible way," he said. "Anything
> less is a cop-out, which serves neither the interests of its members nor
> South Africa."
>
http://www.iol.co.za/news/newsview.php3?click_id=81&set_id=1&art_id=ct199910
> 14100711900P650941
>
>
>