Workers prepare to stop working

No buses, no refuse collection, no metro police and no clinics either. These are some of the vitally important services South Africans will have to do without next week as 200 000 municipal workers around the country embark on a national strike with promises to bring services to a grinding halt from Monday.

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union is demanding pay hikes of 18 percent but the South African Local Government Association (Salga) is offering 6.08 percent.

In previous years Samwu members have caused chaos in city centres overturning rubbish bins and intimidating non-striking members.

Last year a group of protesting municipal workers stoned cars at the municipal hall in central Port Elizabeth; in Ekurhuleni, east of Joburg, private security company the Red Ants allegedly threw stones at striking workers after protests at a municipal building; and in Kimberley 70 people were arrested for public violence for burning tyres outside the city hall.

In Kempton Park in Joburg, a petrol station owner was whipped and stoned by protesting Samwu members, when he tried to extinguish a fire they had started around his filling station.

But Samwu spokesperson, Tahir Sema, said on Friday night the union would call off the strike if the employers showed a willingness to negotiate.

“(Salga) must stop dragging their feet in coming to the table to negotiate with us. We will meet with them over the weekend, if they are willing. But history has shown that they won’t do that. They only negotiate when they are forced to.”

The trade union declared a dispute with Salga and issued a strike notice last Wednesday.

Sema said the strike would go on indefinitely.

“As a union, we did not take the decision to strike lightly.

“We do feel that this dispute could have been resolved at the bargaining table if the employer had only been more understanding of workers’ needs and difficulties when it comes to day-to-day living. The objective of this strike is to force the employer to revise its offer and give the workers a decent annual wage increase,” he said.

Salga earlier confirmed that it had received the strike notice, but said it could do nothing to avert the strike.

Acting Salga director of labour relations Johan van Zyl said the organisation could not meet the union’s pay demands.

“According to our current budget, we cannot afford an increase of 18 percent,” he said. “Our doors are open to the unions. We hope they will come to the negotiation table.”

Sema promised that emergency services would run on a skeleton staff and not come to a halt becuase the union recognised that these were an essential services dealing with matters of life and death. - Saturday Star