Netcare hospital manager Darlene de Vos says the quality of care at Settlers' Hospital was not affected by a week-long laundry workers' strike.
Fifteen members of the Fedusa-affiliated United Association of South Africa (Uasa), settled yesterday on a 6% wage increase with employers Montana Laundries after striking since Monday.
Netcare hospital manager Darlene de Vos says the quality of care at Settlers' Hospital was not affected by a week-long laundry workers' strike.
Fifteen members of the Fedusa-affiliated United Association of South Africa (Uasa), settled yesterday on a 6% wage increase with employers Montana Laundries after striking since Monday.
The Johannesburg-based company is contracted to do laundry services for Settlers', Netcare 911, Fort England and Port Alfred hospitals.
Uasa shop steward Ziyanda Nkohla said while the workers had been earning R7.36 an hour, they should have been getting R11.20, according to the sectoral scale prescribed for cleaning services.
"We have been getting R1 350 a month since 2008 and we want at least R2 000," she said earlier this week.
Montana had offered the workers a 5, 5% increase, amounting to R74.25, which would take the workers' monthly wage up to R1 424.25.
Montana Laundries' operations manager, Pranceel Badal, said on Tuesday they'd been in negotiations with Uasa, but had failed to reach an agreement. "After the negotiations failed, the union took the matter to the CCMA. When the matter was not resolved, they decided to go on strike," he said.
Yesterday Nkohla told Grocott's Mail that the union and Montana had agreed on a 6% wage increase, with 12 months' back-pay.
De Vos. She said services at the hospital had not been compromised as a result of the strike because Montana had employed temporary workers while the Uasa workers were on strike.
