The South African Breweries (SAB) said today that performance related pay (PRP) is a critical element of its ability to pay among the highest wages in the country.
SAB believes that a wish to fundamentally undermine PRP is at the heart of the strike called by Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) which is currently under way at some SAB sites.
Performance related pay is part of SAB’s DNA. It was implemented in the late 1990’s and has been widely accepted as critical to the success of the organisation.
SAB human resources director Yokesh Maharaj said that SAB is one of the world leaders in the brewing industry because it has placed a high level of importance on, amongst other things, performance. This in turn has enabled the company to pay comparatively high wages.
“SAB is a world class company, paying world class wages and we expect world class performance, ” he said.
SAB has offered workers a 7% average wage increase which will increase the average monthly pay for shift workers by R1 196 to R18 283. The average remuneration across all sectors is R4 773 and the average bargaining unit salary in the FMCG sector is R9 600.
Maharaj said SAB believes that the wage increase is highly competitive – it is above inflation and comes off a high base. “SAB is one of the highest paying employers in South Africa across all sectors, and one of the highest in the brewing industry worldwide, ” he said.
Maharaj said the wage offer was made after three months of intense negotiation. There are currently no negotiations under way or planned, as SAB is awaiting response from FAWU on its final offer.
As the strike enters its third day, SAB has contingency plans in place to minimise any disruption to its service and the company has implemented a security plan to protect its people and its assets.
The company said that the majority of employees were at work, with just over 20% of bargaining unit employees having embarked on strike. This amounted to a total of about 730 workers yesterday.
For further information, please contact:
Robyn Chalmers
Head of Media and Communications, SAB
Tel: 011 881 8679
Email: robyn.chalmers@za.sabmiller.com
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