Uniwax employees demonstrated again peacefully on Wednesday, March 3, a stone's throw from the main entrance of the factory located in the Yopougon industrial zone. The ivorian textile and loincloth manufacturing giant, Uniwax, part of the Dutch group Vlisco, has been facing this strike since March 2, 2021.

Respect for CSR, salary increase in absolute value and no longer in percentage are the two major demands of the company's employees.

"We went on strike after notice. We were received by the employers, manager of the company uniwax on February 11 and 12, 2021. We were informed, through a circular, of a salary increase. After a meeting between the trade unionists and the bosses, it appears that we must obtain a 2% increase in general wages and 2% as a merit according to the rating of each section head. This is not to the liking of the workers, because this percentage does not represent anything in the face of the high cost of living. For a base salary of 100,000 FCFA, this increase is around 2,000 FCFA, "laments Aka Anoh Aimé, staff delegate.

Thus, the employees engage in an unlimited strike until the wage is revised. "The minimum wage in this company is barely worth 100,000 F CFA. The employee who has 40 years of service, finds himself retired with 1 million or 800,000 F CFA. The CNPS, the National Social Security Fund, levies nearly 26,000 or 20,000 as a pension. With such a salary grid that dates back to the 80s, we asked the employer for a salary catch-up of 278,000 FCFA which will then be studied, "says Brou Nguessan, mechanic in the maintenance department.