About 500 Sun International Resorts employees in the Eastern Cape were locked out of their work places on Monday because of "peaceful" picketing, their union claimed.

About 250 of the employees are from the Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World, 139 from the Wild Coast Sun and 100 from the Fish River Sun, all of which are part of the Sun International Group.

This follows a wage dispute between Sun International and the employees' union - the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union.

Saccawu's Eastern Cape secretary Mike Sikani said the union had obtained permission from the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration to stage a peaceful picket during lunch breaks. He said Sun International was not pleased with this, and reacted by asking all workers to agree to a 6,5% increment with encompassing conditions, or be locked out.

"Tomorrow (today) we are convening a meeting nationally to craft a way forward. Legally, the company cannot issue a lockout as we never made any indications to strike."

Since March, he said, the union had been demanding an increment of R350 or 10% across the board and the inclusion of workers who earn above R6 000 into bargaining units.

Sun International didn't allow employees earning more than R6 000 to be part of any bargaining effort, he said.

However, Sun International's Human Resource director Joe Lukwago-Mugerwa said Saccawu had suggested they wanted to strike. He would not provide that correspondence to The Herald, saying it was between his company and the union.

"We told them in the event of a strike, we would lock them out, and that's what we have done in all our affected units. It?s a defensive lockout in response to the strike. Those who are willing to take the offer, voluntarily, may do so, and they will come back to work. We have communicated that to the employees," he said.

Eastern Province Herald
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge