A worker at Two-a-Day in
Grabouw said this morning in a social media post, “We’re not striking, we’re
just standing in front of the gate because we don’t want to work under these conditions.
Everybody knows there’s been a positive case of Covid-19 here.”
The store received confirmation on Saturday
evening, 16 May of a positive testing. According to Two-a-Day’s Human
Resources Director, Dimitri Jacobs, the company immediately implemented the protocols required by the Department of Health/NCID and Department of Labour.
“The positive case is
self-isolating, and his close contacts have been identified and are currently
in quarantine. The Department of Health is in contact with them, and we are
also following-up and enquiring after their emotional state on a daily basis.
“We
closed the workplace on Sunday and decontaminated the whole premises, after
which we sent the deep-cleaning certificate to the Department of Labour and
Employment after which we were allowed to resume operations Monday.
“Unfortunately,
some of our employees put forward demands that are contradictory to what the
law requires, and are not practically implementable. For example, they want all
employees to be tested on site, which is not necessary, and also not in accordance with
the guidelines received from the health department in terms of dealing with
positive cases. Some demanded that we close the business for more than a week,
which is also not practical
or reasonable. There are also other demands that are unlawful.
“The union, SAUWOLIMO [South African United
Workers’ Liberation Movement], came and addressed their members, and some employees returned to their workstations. Some
decided not to return
to their workstations and the company issued a lockout notice yesterday, 20 May,
in response to the unprotected strike action. The majority of our employees
have, in the meantime, reported for duty.
“All those employees who have not
reported for duty yet will be allowed to
do so tonight and tomorrow. Those who continue to partake in the unprotected strike
will unfortunately be subject to disciplinary action, in line with the company’s disciplinary code.”
