New strike hits World Cup venue

Workers at one of the stadiums due to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup have downed tools in the latest pay strike to threaten tight construction deadlines, their union said Wednesday.

Work on the Mbombela Stadium outside Nelspruit has been frozen since Monday lunchtime, with all but 40 of the 465-strong work force on strike, George Ledwaba of the National Union of Mineworkers said.

Ledwaba said the workforce was demanding a near doubling of their salaries.

“The workers get about R10 per hour. They are asking for R19,” he said.

Construction workers at Mbombela, one of 10 stadiums that will host the tournament from June 2010, also went briefly on strike over wages and transport benefits in November and in December last year.

Similar disputes have also previously hit work on the stadiums in Durban and in Cape Town , but organisers remain adamant they are still ahead of the deadline.—AFP