SACTWU welcomes merger judgment

Loyiso Langeni
07 May 2015

The South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union welcomed a decision by the Competition Tribunal regarding a matter last year concerning a large merger.

The merger if it happened would mean employees would lose their jobs involved Beier Safety Footwear, Bagshaw Safety Footwear and SKN Corporation.

SACTWU General Secretary Andre Kriel said the judgment is a victory for mature industrial relations and for decent jobs and employment policies in the country.

Kriel added that the trade union together with employers and the footwear industry came to an agreement to save jobs while a large merger was taking place in the footwear industry.

“When this merger went to the Competition Commission it watered down this agreement and the impact was that there would be less jobs saved.” Kriel said.

He concluded by saying that the result of the Tribunal’s decision is to overturn the commission’s interpretation and jobs in the footwear sector.