Members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) staged a picket outside the Parktonian Hotel in Braamfontein on Wednesday, accusing the employer of deducting provident fund contributions from workers’ salaries without paying them over to the fund.
The workers also allege that funeral insurance contributions were not paid, backdated salary adjustments remain outstanding, salary payments have been delayed, and changes were made unilaterally to their terms and conditions of employment.
One of the workers, Themba Mokoena, said employees discovered that money deducted from their salaries for the provident fund had allegedly not been transferred to the fund.
“The company deducts money every month from our salaries, only to find out that the money for the provident fund doesn’t go to the fund,” said Mokoena.
Mokoena further claimed that management only showed a willingness to engage with workers after they embarked on strike action.
“We gave them 48 hours’ notice on Monday, but they didn’t say anything. They only want to talk now that we are about to strike,” he said.
The protest received support from other labour organisations, including the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU).
In a statement, NEHAWU said it fully supported the workers’ decision to withdraw their labour, describing the strike as justified in response to what it called deteriorating working conditions.
The union cited several grievances, including the scrapping of long-service awards, the discontinuation of provident fund contributions, alleged non-payment of Safrican Funeral Insurance contributions, unpaid backdated salary adjustments dating back to February 2026, delayed salary payments, the unilateral change from a monthly salary structure to an hourly wage system, and the introduction of short-time working without consultation.
NEHAWU accused Parktonian Hotel management of undermining collective bargaining and workers’ rights, calling on the employer to return to negotiations in good faith to resolve the dispute.
Police maintained a visible presence throughout the protest to monitor the situation, which remained peaceful.
Hotel management could not be reached for comment on the allegations.
