Independent On Saturday reports that a strike at the Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street mortuary in Durban has led to grieving families being unable to collect the bodies of their loved ones and has thrown funeral arrangements into disarray.  

But, according to a source, staff resumed work on Friday afternoon, pending discussions, and post-mortems resumed on a backlog of 45 bodies.  Two mortuary workers claimed they had been assured they would be paid last month for overtime work in December, but the provincial health department had not kept its word.  Halatisani Gumede of the Public and Allied Workers’ Union of SA (Pawusa), indicated that the strike was over workers being underpaid and having to work in unsafe conditions.  Warning that the union was planning a march, he stated:  “We have been trying to liaise, but they have not been responsive.”  Gumede added that mortuaries across the province were affected to varying degrees by the strike.  Nehawu members are reportedly also involved.  A spokesman for the KZN department confirmed that the strikers had resumed their duties following consultations between organised labour and the department and indicated that senior officials were currently trying to find solutions to the grievances raised by the workers.

• Read the full original of Duncan Guy’s report on the strike at Independent News

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