This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
Sunday Tribune reports that as Durban reels from a week of deadly floods, the city is heading into a storm of its own making as disgruntled municipal workers threaten to sabotage the city’s water and electricity supplies.
Several areas have already been without water after workers in the Water and Sanitation Unit downed tools and refused to fix water pipes and sewer lines damaged in the storm. The workers want their salaries upgraded from grade 4 to grade 10 - an increase of about R11,000. The unhappiness was triggered when the City employed MK veterans in the same unit, but at a higher salary grade than existing employees. Unions claimed it was done without consulting them. Queen Mbatha of the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) vowed that their members would not return to work until their salaries grades were adjusted. She confirmed that their members from other units, such as electricity, were prepared to embark on a solidarity strike from Monday. “We are not opposing the employment of MK vets, they can keep their positions because they have already signed their contracts, but our employees must also be promoted from grade 4 to grade 10,” she indicated. A city spokesperson confirmed that the strike was still on and indicated that the city would consider legal action against employees who tampered with infrastructure to sabotage service delivery.
- Read the full original of the report by Siboniso Mngadi and Kwandokuhle Njoli on the above story at Sunday Tribune
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page