The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) accused Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana on Monday of favouring employers in the current security-industry wage strike.
”Satawu would like to call on the minister … to refrain from continuously making remarks that expose him as partisan in the current dispute between Satawu and the security employers.
”This not only undermines the strike but it is also not adding any value towards resolution of this dispute,” union national sector coordinator Jackson Simon said in a statement.
Last week, Mdladlana said he wanted a trade union bigger than Satawu in the security industry. Only by organising large numbers of security-sector workers can a bargaining council be created to promote the rights of employers.
Simon said these comments indicate the minister is condemning its striking members.
Department of Labour records show Satawu has 20 300 members, and the other 14 unions in the industry jointly have fewer members than Satawu does.
Simon said this figure is inaccurate, and ”pro-business in character, quite contrary to what you would expect from a minister who is also a member of the ANC [African National Congress]”.
He said that by October last year the verified number of Satawu members was 34 370.
Simon said in Mdladlana’s attempts to play ”the role of shop steward of capital” he has embarrassed himself by contradicting a precedent he set in 2001 when he refused to sign a deal because it was signed without the participation of two employer associations that he deemed to be bigger than those that had signed.
”As Satawu we reiterate our claim that this agreement is null and void, and that it is fraudulent in that it was signed under the pretence that it was on behalf of unions yet it clearly was by a minority of the workers and was signed after the meeting had been closed and behind the back of Satawu,” he said.
Satawu plans to intensify its protests, many of which have turned violent, and will hold marches in all major city centres on Wednesday.
The union has also demanded a meeting with the director general of labour on Wednesday to discuss Mdladlana’s lack of response on demands by Satawu to meet him.
The union hopes its intensified programme will bring about a return to the negotiation table and cancel the April 1 wage deal with the other unions.
Satawu wants an 11% wage increase. The other unions settled on 8,3%. — Sapa