Fin24 reports that after a one-day strike on Thursday, the Public Servants Association (PSA) says it will continue with lunchtime pickets, while government claims the industrial action caused "minimal" disruptions to the flow of public services.
The PSA went on strike after a deadlock in the public service wage talks and a government decision to unilaterally implement a 3% baseline increase in the public service, starting next week. The PSA strike was supported by members of the Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa), whose members demonstrated with the striking union in multiple locations around the country, including Pretoria, Durban, and Bloemfontein. The combined demonstrations had been expected to bring disruptions to services at border posts, home affairs offices, and public healthcare facilities, but the government said any disruptions as a result of the strike and protests had been minimal. Home Affairs spokesperson Bongi Gwala said while the Soshanguve Home Affairs office was closed due to intimidation, service delivery had been largely uninterrupted. The PSA’s Reuben Maleka said the union was humbled by the number of members and other unions in the public service that took to the streets on Thursday and that the strike “was a huge success”. He said the PSA would continue to picket during lunchtimes to give government a chance to respond to labour demands for an intervention that results in a better wage increase within seven days. Hospersa acknowledged that since many of its members were essential workers, many of them had been unable to join marches. National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union spokesperson Lwazi Nkolisi reported that the Cosatu bloc of unions was still reporting to members on the outcomes of the conciliation and further mobilising them for the upcoming program of action. Nkolisi said the programme of action would be communicated by Cosatu public service unions together with other public service unions in due course.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Unpaid public workers vow to shut down the country, at City Press (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page