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Fin24 reports that the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has ended its strike at the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) after reaching an agreement on salary increases on Friday.
The strike of two weeks came after the union accused the bureau of implementing changes to the workers' payment and employment structure, and their conditions of employment, without consultation. The strike involved more than 200 workers. Zanele Sabela, spokesperson for union federation Cosatu, of which Nehawu is an affiliate, advised that a salary increase agreement was reached on a sliding scale of 4% to 5.8%, backdated to 1 April 2024. According to the salary agreement, employees will also be eligible for a once-off gratuitous payment of R25,000 and a R5,000 gratuitous payment for interns as of 1 April. Housing allowances will also increase for employees eligible for the benefit from R1,400 to R1,500. The salary dispute arose after Nehawu wanted all new employees to be included in fringe benefits in addition to the normal cost to company (CTC) remuneration structure and for such benefits to be included in designing the new pay scale. Since 2013, workers at SABS have received additional benefits such as housing allowances and medical aid subsidies. However, changes in the structure had threatened the removal of such benefits. Nehawu's SABS chairperson, Mohola Maremela, said workers had taken to the streets after the SABS had "undermined" the collective bargaining process and was not honest about changing the payment structure for its workers. According to Maremela, the strike had caused "huge disruptions" and a backlog in the work of the SABS, including the testing of condoms, and sampling in the food and water laboratories. This was denied by the bureau.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Na'ilah Ebrahim at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
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