Sporadic incidents of ill-discipline, including the hurling of glass bottles at Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi, marred an SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) march on Wednesday.
The march, part of a national three-day strike, follows a deadlock in wage negotiations between the SA Local Government Association (Salga) and Samwu.
The unions want a wage increase of nine percent or R400, whichever is greater. The demand for a new minimum wage is R3 000 a month.
Mgoqi was on hand to accept a memorandum and letter, addressed to Salga’s chairperson Amos Masondo, proposing that Salga amend its six percent offer currently on the table.
”The six percent offer this year and inflation plus 0,5% in 2006 and inflation plus 0,4% in 2007 is an insult to us. In addition, the minimum wage of R2 300 offered by Salga comes nowhere near a decent living wage for municipal workers,” the memorandum stated.
Samwu said it was unacceptable that Salga sought to play the demands of municipal workers against service delivery needs of communities.
”This argument is never advanced when it comes to paying ridiculously high salaries to senior managers and millions to consultants. This argument is also not raised with increases of seven percent to councillors’ allowances.”
A crowd of around 2 000 marched through the city centre to deliver the memorandum.
Along the way bins were overturned and rubbish strewn in roads, as unruly union members, some clearly inebriated, sought to sow as much havoc as possible.
A police superintendent who tried to intervene and stop a marcher from spreading the rubbish from a broken black bag, was quickly surrounded by knobkerrie-brandishing comrades, seeking to protect their colleague.
However, swift intervention by marshals diffused the situation. Asked about the apparent ill-discipline, said Samwu general secretary Roger Ronnie: ”They are angry. It’s difficult to control them when they are angry, but as you can see marshals are trying.”
Addressing the crowd later, Ronnie said workers were on the streets because the ”bosses have hearts of stone”.
”We will strike until we achieve our demands,” he said, revving up the crowd when he added that Salga on Tuesday had unilaterally decided to implement the six percent increase without resorting to further negotiations.
Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich warned that worker dissatisfaction could influence the forthcoming local government elections.
”We can only support people who support us,” he said.
Ehrenreich said workers wanted the rights they were entitled to now.
Samwu provincial secretary Andre Adams said mass action across the province was well supported, with reports indicating that 80% of workers in the Boland, 70% in the Garden Route/Karoo area, and 60% in the West Coast areas were on strike.
”We are sending a message … if you do not accede to our demands you will face the wrath of Samwu,” Adams said. – Sapa