Fruit workers strike over union recognition

Workers at Betko Fresh Produce in Villiersdorp, Western Cape, have been on strike since 24 August. Photos: Greg Dor

• More than 250 workers at Betko Fresh Produce in Villiersdorp, Western Cape, are on strike.
• They want a 10% increase and the employer to negotiate with the National Union for All Sectors (NUFAS).
• NUFAS says it has 265 members at the company and more are joining, but the company says NUFAS only has 150 members (23% of workers in the fruit season) and it will only negotiate with a union if it has a majority.

More than 250 workers at Betko Fresh Produce in Villiersdorp went on strike on Monday. They are demanding a 10% wage increase, changes to the provident fund, bonuses, and greater employment security.

At the centre of the dispute is a disagreement over whether their union, the National Union for All Sectors (NUFAS), must negotiate with the company.

Betko operations director Japie Groenewald told GroundUp that NUFAS had only 150 members, making up only 23% of the seasonal workforce. As a result, he said, the company was not required to enter into collective bargaining with the union. Groenewald said the recognition agreement only gives the union the right to access the workplace and to make membership deductions.

But NUFAS president Mzikayise Mawuwa said the union had 195 members before the strike and now has 265, and numbers are increasing. The striking workers are picketing outside the premises.

Under the Labour Relations Act, a “representative trade union” means “a registered trade union, or two or more registered trade unions acting jointly, that are sufficiently representative of the employees employed by an employer in a workplace”. The Act does not define sufficient.

Groenewald did not respond to further questions about numbers of employees, but according to its website, Betko employs roughly 350 local staff in Villiersdorp, with many having worked there for 20 years or more. The website says Betko is a family-operated business established in 1988, which grows, packs and exports apples and pears to more than 40 countries.

GroundUp spoke to one worker who has been employed at Betko for ten years. He said he takes home about R1,700 a week after deductions. His wife also works at Betko, as a packer. Most of the employees are women working in packing, he said, and they take home about R1,000 a week.

“The wages we are getting do not cover even the basics. That is why we are here,” he said.

Mawuwa said the union and Betko had engaged through the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) but had reached a deadlock. More than 75% of NUFAS members had then voted in favour of striking.

Groenewald said that the picketing rules had been established through the CCMA and that the action had remained peaceful. The company had contingency plans in place to maintain operations during the strike.

NUFAS wants a headcount of all employees to determine whether it has majority support. “If we get that majority then we can call off the strike … But with an understanding that with a majority, we will begin negotiating again in September for this year and for next year,” said Mawuwa.

NUFAS president Mzikayise Mawuwa addresses striking workers.

Groenewald said NUFAS had approached Betko in September 2025 to negotiate wages, but the company had refused because the union was not sufficiently representative. Betko had then implemented a 5% wage increase.

Mawuwa said workers accepted this on condition that wages were renegotiated in September this year.

But Groenewald said the demand to renegotiate wages was new and management was reluctant to enter further discussions with NUFAS.

Workers are also demanding to be allowed to choose their own provident fund, unconditional bonuses, and greater employment security.

The worker GroundUp spoke to said the company’s claim that NUFAS was a minority union had encouraged more workers to join. He claimed that only about 40 workers had not joined the strike.

NUFAS is relatively new to the agricultural and packing sectors and grew out of a union focused on call-centre workers. In 2023, it changed its name from National Union of Call Centres of South Africa to NUFAS and broadened its scope to organise workers across several sectors. It has offices in various parts of the country. It is not part of any federation.

Mawuwa said NUFAS deliberately operates differently from larger unions and federations. “NUFAS officials must be on the ground, even the general secretary is here. And I am the president and I am here. So this is how we operate and we will continue this way to respond to our members.”

He said the union wanted to organise workers who were not adequately represented elsewhere, and also planned to organise workers at other packing houses in the area.

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