Cosatu condemns bread price increase

By Tina George
15 January 2008

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is outraged at yet another increase in the price of bread.

This comes after bread producer Tiger Brands raised the price of bread by 40-cents a loaf.

“Many poor families are already struggling with earlier inflation plus other increases in fuel and uniforms. This is going to bring real hardship and we are not prepared to just sit back and let it happen,” says Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven.

Cosatu says that they want an investigation as to the real reason for the increase and whether or not there was a collusional price-fixing.

“The companies have gone out of their way to say that they have reached independent decisions but yet again all the companies seem to be raising their prices within a very short period, “says Craven.

Cosatu states that they want to know what is happening to the money of the consumer because none of the workers who produce the bread on the farms or in the bakeries are getting any of the money.

“We’ll be taking account of the bread price increase when we enter wage negotiation prices in the coming year,” says Craven.

The South African Chamber of Baking was unavailable for comment.