RUSTENBURG - Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) members in the footwear sector went on strike on Monday, the union said.
"Our trade union commenced a national strike ballot in the footwear manufacturing sector on Monday last week. This secret ballot was completed on Friday [past] and 86% of our members voted in favour of strike action," said general secretary Andre Kriel.
Workers are demanding 9. 5% wage increase against the employer's offer of 6.25%. Wage increases in the footwear sector were due on July 1 2018.
"We are working jointly with the National Union of Leather & Allied Workers [Nulaw). As at 13h00 today [Monday], our strike survey showed that close to 10,000 footwear workers have embarked on national wage strike action..."
He said the survey showed that most footwear factories have been shut down.