Unprotected Strike Leads to Bakery Worker Dismissal

10 April 2026

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2–3 minutes

The Labour Court in Durban has dismissed an unfair dismissal claim brought by a bakery worker who was fired after participating in an unprotected strike and verbally confronting management during a tense canteen standoff.

Phumalani Dube (“Dube”), a former oven-feeder operator at Sasko Shakaskraal Bakery, was among a group of roughly 60 workers who abandoned their posts in the early hours of 2 July 2020. The group gathered in the staff canteen at 3am in an industrial action that had its roots in a letter of demand delivered days earlier. The letter, purportedly signed by 240 employees, called for the removal of five senior managers within 48 hours. The petition alleged in broad terms that workers were treated poorly and subjected to vulgar language by management.

When company representatives attempted to meet with workers through their union, AFADWU, an agreement was reached on 1 July that employees would lodge specific grievances through the employer’s formal grievance procedure. That agreement was not honoured. Within hours, the strike was underway.

The court found that while Dube may not have been among those who initiated the strike at 3am, his conduct once he arrived at work for his 6am shift went well beyond passive participation.

CCTV footage reviewed in court, together with the testimony of bakery manager Aupa Mofokeng and HR manager Lebohang Letsoha, painted a picture of an employee who actively inflamed an already volatile situation. When management entered the canteen to address the striking workers, who had by then largely settled, Dube continued singing and dancing, chanting “They must leave the place” and “All must go.” He also directed the remark “Go back to Lesotho” at Mr Letsoha, an apparent reference to the HR manager’s origins.

At one point, Dube positioned himself alongside the shop stewards and urged them to repeat the demand that management leave. Most damagingly, by his own admission under cross-examination, he told Mr Mofokeng directly: “You are not trusted. You are a liar.”

The court found this conduct to constitute gross insubordination and gross insolence. It noted that while labour law permits a degree of latitude in the heat of collective bargaining, it does not extend to personal insults directed at managers. Citing the precedent set in Msunduzi Municipality v Hoskins,¹ the court reaffirmed that even shop stewards and employee representatives have no licence to behave in a rude or insulting manner toward management, and that such conduct can irreparably damage the trust relationship at the heart of an employment contract.

Fifty-three other employees who took part in the strike received final written warnings. Dube and the shop stewards, however, faced the more serious step of disciplinary hearings, reflecting what the court accepted was a meaningful difference in the nature and degree of their conduct.

You can read the full Dube v Sasko judgement here.