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Message: [QUOTE="Queen, post: 85020, member: 27"] Fast-food uniforms, garden weeds, and a union rep hitting the brakes turned a random drive-by into a labor fight that is not going away quietly. What sparked the whole thing [LIST] [*]Workers at a Steers outlet were spotted doing gardening while still in full uniform. [*]This went down in Menlopark, Pretoria, not behind the scenes. [*]A passerby saw it, stopped, and things escalated fast. [/LIST] Who stepped in [LIST] [*]Lebusa Dave Mamaregane was the one who intervened. [*]He is affiliated with the SA Workers Union ya Bashumi. [*]He did not just complain, he showed up at the restaurant again the same week. [/LIST] Why does he say it is a problem [LIST] [*]Mamaregane says job descriptions matter under the Labour Relations Act. [*]Gardening, in his view, is nowhere near what these workers were hired to do. [*]When asked why they were doing it, the workers said only God knows. [/LIST] What workers allegedly told him [LIST] [*]Gardening was not a once-off thing. [*]They said it happens whenever the store is quiet. [*]Some of them are chefs, yet still get told to do it. [/LIST] Hygiene and pay concerns [LIST] [*]Mamaregane says chefs should not be touching soil and weeds. [*]He flagged hygiene risks tied to food handling. [*]No extra pay was given; this was treated as normal duty. [/LIST] Who is he pointing the finger at [LIST] [*]The store manager is being singled out as the main driver. [*]Mamaregane says instructions to garden came directly from management. [*]Cost-cutting was never raised during discussions, according to him. [/LIST] What the union plans next [LIST] [*]Mamaregane wants the issue pushed to either the labour court or a bargaining council. [*]Investigations are already happening on site. [*]He hinted that more allegations surfaced, and evidence is still being gathered. [/LIST] Why is he still involved [LIST] [*]The workers are not union members. [*]Mamaregane says that it does not matter when rights are being crossed. [*]He frames it as stepping in because someone has to. [/LIST] What Steers said publicly [LIST] [*]Steers said this is not how things are supposed to work. [*]The company blamed a delay in landlord maintenance after the December festive period. [*]Staff were allegedly asked to remove excessive weeds temporarily. [/LIST] Where the company drew the line [LIST] [*]Steers admitted the manager should not have asked staff to do the work. [*]The practice was described as unacceptable and not standard procedure. [*]The brand says it has addressed the issue internally. [/LIST] Why is this not done yet [LIST] [*]Mamaregane says developments may pull him back to the store again. [*]Possible legal action is still on the table. [*]The gap between corporate statements and shop-floor reality is being tested hard. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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