Today's Labour News

The Citizen reports that SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) members involved in the illegal strike in the City of Tshwane face dismissal after many residents were left in prolonged power outages and other public services were halted in the second week of the strike for salary increases.

Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said 15 employees had been arrested thus far and charged with public violence. They will also face internal charges. The City on Thursday issued 41 letters of intention to dismiss striking employees and said it would also approach the Labour Court on an urgent basis for contempt of court. Last Friday, the Court granted the City an interim interdict which declared the strike action unlawful and unprotected, and ordered the striking employees to disperse. Bokaba advised that the city manager issued multiple ultimatums to the workers to return to work and to desist from intimidating their non-striking colleagues. “The majority of the employees report for duty but are being prevented, intimidated and victimised by their striking colleagues from executing their duties,” he reported. The Tshwane Metro Police Department has been deployed to monitor flashpoints where demonstrations are taking place and to protect employees who are not taking part in the strike. Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said day-to-day services, such as power failures, waste collection, pipe leakages and sewer blockages remained impacted in some areas. He observed that some workers thought that by using violence and intimidation, the City would agree to their demands. “Our position still stands. Owing to our precarious financial position, we simply cannot afford to implement salary increases,” he insisted.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marizka Coetzer at The Citizen (subscriber access only)
• Read too, City of Tshwane moves to dismiss 41 striking workers, at BusinessLive

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page