He said the company was advised “at the last moment” of the Black Friday strike.
“It was a total surprise.”
But Workers First Union deputy secretary Anita Rosentreter said: “Sometimes that’s the point of a strike. You take the company by surprise. In saying that, I’m a little bit surprised that he’s surprised.”
She said notice of strike action was issued yesterday afternoon and bargaining had been going on for some time.
“The members had been taking partial strike action until recently in the form of an overtime ban.”
She said in logistics and distribution, the industry standard was time and a half.
The workers wanted that extra pay for working beyond 40 hours a week, she said.
Rosentreter said the union had been acting in good faith.
“At this distribution centre, the majority of workers are in the union.”
Workers First Union organiser George Schwenke in a statement this morning said employees would have a public picket at the Hautu Drive site.
He said workers had been seeking overtime pay for hours worked outside their regular shifts for “four years already”.
Employees had had enough of working overtime at normal rates, Schwenke said.
But he said Briscoe Group had refused to meet the market rate.
- Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter – your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.
