News24 reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said on Thursday that South Africans firefighters who went on a pay strike in Canada had been 'ruthlessly' exploited.
"[Numsa] warmly congratulates the 301 fire-fighters who protested at the way they were being ruthlessly exploited while they were courageously fighting fires in Alberta, Canada," said the union's acting spokesperson, Patrick Craven, in a statement. The firefighters, who arrived in Canada on 30 May to assist with wildfire suppression, returned home this week. They has been trained through the Working on Fire (WoF) programme which is part of the government's Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). Craven had harsh words for WoF, calling it "a cheap-labour scheme to exploit workers who ought to be properly employed in the public service and paid a living wage".
- Read this report in full at News24
- Read Numsa’s press statement at Politicsweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page