The strike by hundreds of South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) members is set to continue despite a new offer which was tabled in front of the union on Friday.
The strike by hundreds of South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) members is set to continue despite a new offer which was tabled in front of the union on Friday.
Samwu chairman in Makana, Wandile Bikitsha said on Friday that they are still waiting for a directive from the national leadership which is engaged in negotiations with the South African Local Government Association (Salga).
“As Makana we reject Salga’s new offer, as far as we can see they are playing,” he explained, “the strike continues and on Monday we’ll pick up from we left off today.”
He said that Salga has signed a memorandum of understanding which promises the union that low and middle- income employees will be paid market-related salaries backdated to January 2010 and will be remunerated on a scale which was effective in September 2009.
The workers are demanding that their salaries be dated as far back as three years ago and they want the payment to be made according to the current scale.
He added that Salga has agreed to remove lawyers from disciplinary and grievance hearings. “They [Salga] offered to replace them with government officials from either the provincial or national governments, something which we welcome with reservations,” he also said.
Makana Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart announced this week that they agreed with the union
leadership that a Strike Management Committee meeting will be convened every day at 3pm.
The aim of the meetings is to discuss how to manage the strike and deal with any issues arising from it.
Bikitsha said the workers disagree with the strike management committee proposed by Makana Municipality arguing that they do not want to meet with the municipality daily as this would weaken their position.
“At such meetings they [municipal management]will tell us not to engage in certain activities but such activities are crucial to our struggle,” he said.
He said the union only agreed to meet with the management whenever a need arises but that they rejected the idea of a strike management committee.
“We [the union]already have such a committee and we don’t want a duplication,” he added. He also said the support for the strike was growing daily.
Some residents complained that there were no services rendered in the offices in City Hall and the Local Economic Development department where they sought to obtain proof of residences.
“There are employees who are at work but the offices are locked and the security guards tell you can’t enter because there’s a strike going on, yet the strikers are not even around,” said Sakhiwo Duruwe.
Some Samwu members accused the police of provoking them, saying that they prevented the strikers from entering the Raglan Road Clinic despite the clinic being a municipal building.
“Our permit allows us to demonstrate in front of municipal buildings but a police officer told us we can’t go inside the clinic,” one striker said.
