Makro workers leave union and accept wage increase offer

[Bradley Prior]

Makro workers leave union and accept wage increase offer

Massmart expects more workers at its Makro stores to leave the South African Commercial‚ Catering and Allied Workers’ Union in order to accept the Walmart Inc.-owned company’s wage offer. [Bloomberg]

 

[maumau]

Hope this is the beginning of the end for Unions in ZA.

 

[FlashSA]

If only they knew what their lives would gain if they left the ANC too.....

 

[ToxicBunny]

While this is a positive move.. Its still only 800 odd workers, not even 1% of their claimed membership

 

[grca]

I'm amazed that a 4.5% increase would be acceptable in the current inflationary climate. I wonder how it compares to Makro's average price increases of the goods it sells?

 

[uchoose]

4.5% is a hell of a lot better than Makro closing down and becoming jobless. Easy for these union bosses to force strikes when their salaries aren't affected.

 

[airborne]

I wonder if the union will let Makro go unpunished?
They typically don’t take kindly to not getting their way or people choosing for themselves.

 

[Mystic Twilight]

While this is a positive move.. Its still only 800 odd workers, not even 1% of their claimed membership

1% of the total number of union members employed in makro/massmart, or 1% of the total union membership from all the various companies combined?

Edit: So actually 17% of makro employed members. If it leads to a significant number of people leaving that would at least weaken the union on one company.

 

[grca]

4.5% is a hell of a lot better than Makro closing down and becoming jobless. Easy for these union bosses to force strikes when their salaries aren't affected.

It's also a lot better than a meteorite striking South Africa and obliterating the entire country. These absurdities are obvious and don't need stating as if they're a real and present risk, which they aren't. What's not obvious and more relevant is what I alluded to: how does Makro's staff raise compare to the price raises Makro is asking of its customers?

 

[Grubscrew]

1% of the total number of union members employed in makro/massmart, or 1% of the total union membership from all the various companies combined?

Edit: So actually 17% of makro employed members. If it leads to a significant number of people leaving that would at least weaken the union on one company.

the first 17%

 

[Sapphiron]

Things to keep in mind whenever labour issues are being reported on.

1. Most established media take very anti-labour positions
2. Many of the large South African unions are political animals, rather than labour unions. They are too large to care or understand what the massmart employees need.

Taking these into consideration, it's likely the Union is doing a terrible job in negotiations AND that Massmart's offer to employees have little to no relation to company performance.

These employees should be forming a new smaller union made up of only massmart employees, that will better represent their interests.

 

[flash99]

Is 17% a lot? The union is given their mandate by the members who must have agreed for the union action to carry on...

 

[grca]

how does Makro's staff raise compare to the price raises Makro is asking of its customers?

I was curious to answer my own question. Wayback Machine to the rescue on Makro's online store.

Baby Soft 2 Ply Toilet Tissue (18's) (More4Less)
R114.95 @ Nov 4 2021
R139.95 @ Today

Skip Auto Washing Powder Bag (1 x 3kg) (More4Less)
R91.95 @ Nov 4 2021
R130.95 @ Today

Heineken NRBs (24 x 330 ml) (On Promotion)
R269.00 @ Oct 31 2021
R299.00 @ Today

Total @ 2021 = R475.90
Total @ Today = R569.90

Total price increase over 1 year = R94 / R475.90
Percentage price increase over 1 year = 19.75 %

Seems like a nice way to create fantastic profit for your shareholders. Fleece your customers while exploiting your workers. Same old same old, or am I missing something?

 

[deesef]

I was curious to answer my own question. Wayback Machine to the rescue on Makro's online store.

Baby Soft 2 Ply Toilet Tissue (18's) (More4Less)
R114.95 @ Nov 4 2021
R139.95 @ Today

Skip Auto Washing Powder Bag (1 x 3kg) (More4Less)
R91.95 @ Nov 4 2021
R130.95 @ Today

Heineken NRBs (24 x 330 ml) (On Promotion)
R269.00 @ Oct 31 2021
R299.00 @ Today

Total @ 2021 = R475.90
Total @ Today = R569.90

Total price increase over 1 year = R94 / R475.90
Percentage price increase over 1 year = 19.75 %

Seems like a nice way to create fantastic profit for your shareholders. Fleece your customers while exploiting your workers. Same old same old, or am I missing something?

30%er?

 

[flash99]

I was curious to answer my own question. Wayback Machine to the rescue on Makro's online store.

Baby Soft 2 Ply Toilet Tissue (18's) (More4Less)
R114.95 @ Nov 4 2021
R139.95 @ Today

Skip Auto Washing Powder Bag (1 x 3kg) (More4Less)
R91.95 @ Nov 4 2021
R130.95 @ Today

Heineken NRBs (24 x 330 ml) (On Promotion)
R269.00 @ Oct 31 2021
R299.00 @ Today

Total @ 2021 = R475.90
Total @ Today = R569.90

Total price increase over 1 year = R94 / R475.90
Percentage price increase over 1 year = 19.75 %

Seems like a nice way to create fantastic profit for your shareholders. Fleece your customers while exploiting your workers. Same old same old, or am I missing something?

You are missing indeed missing something. You do not seem to have an idea of the basics of retail. Your calculation is maybe a touch too simplistic as it does not relate to profit at all. You need to at least how much more Makro is paying for the stock.

 

[ToxicBunny]

You are missing indeed missing something. You do not seem to have an idea of the basics of retail. Your calculation is maybe a touch too simplistic as it does not relate to profit at all. You need to at least how much more Makro is paying for the stock.

As well as holding costs for the stock and rentals and operational costs...

 

[Acinixys]

You are missing indeed missing something. You do not seem to have an idea of the basics of retail. Your calculation is maybe a touch too simplistic as it does not relate to profit at all. You need to at least how much more Makro is paying for the stock.

Toilet Paper is up countrywide due to massive worldwide shortages on raw virgin pulp
Washing power is up due to packaging and raw materials spiking due to legacy Covid shipping issues

Beer I cannot comment on, not my field

 

[noxibox]

You can't use mark-ups on individual products or price increases to determine how much money a retailer is making. Even knowing how much they pay for stock doesn't give you any idea how much money they make.

 

[grca]

You are missing indeed missing something. You do not seem to have an idea of the basics of retail. Your calculation is maybe a touch too simplistic as it does not relate to profit at all. You need to at least how much more Makro is paying for the stock.

Well, that is obvious, and if the data were available I would use it.

As well as holding costs for the stock and rentals and operational costs...

Noting that these retail costs aren't new since 2021, they've always existed.

You can't use mark-ups on individual products or price increases to determine how much money a retailer is making. Even knowing how much they pay for stock doesn't give you any idea how much money they make.

I picked products at random guided by what was easy to extract from the Wayback Machine. Correction: my product choices were also products that are regular purchases (consumables). If you have a data set available that is both large and machine parseable, please make it public.

CPI for the year is between 7% and 8%. I don't see how a retailer's wage increases can be below that while their product prices seem to have increased significantly above that. This is the crux.