A group of about 20 workers protested in front of the Distell premises in Adam Tas Road, Stellenbosch on Friday (21 October) claiming they were unfairly terminated earlier this year.
The former contract workers, who worked for the company for 10 to 23 years, claimed they were not been given a fair chance at employment to start with, saying other workers who started there more recently were employed permanently.
Dennis Matsane, a spokesperson for Distell, said the individuals concerned are not Distell employees, but employed by a Distell contractor, Workforce, which provides services at several Distell sites, including its Adam Tas Road site.
“This is therefore a matter between the individuals and their former employer,” he added.
Petronella Jonker, who worked at the site for 14 years, said she and terminated fellow workers were unhappy with the manner in which their contracts were not renewed.
“We were given letters in June saying our contracts were ending in July,” she said. “We had been working here for very long while people working here in more recent times were getting permanent employee contracts, an option never extended to us. This is not fair.”
The workers felt they had dedicated most of their adult lives to working for Distell, but were not recognised for this. They also claim they received no pension benefits despite its being deducted from their wages throughout their time of employment.
“How is this possible?” Freedom Mzandolo, who worked at the site for 20 years, wanted to know. “Why did we not get our pension?”
