Ivor Powell, Marianne Merten and Heather Hogan
The battle lines hardened into a stand-off between the government and the giant Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Thursday as three public service unions went on strike in protest against the government’s refusal to bow to a 10% pay increase demand.
“The public service unions make up nearly a third of the total membership of Cosatu,” said Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the 1,8-million-strong federation. “We would definitely consider a solidarity strike if union demands are not met.
“This is about a living wage for our members, and that is an ongoing Cosatu campaign. We will certainly do whatever we must to fight for a living wage.”
Leaders of the three striking unions were scheduled to meet Cosatu top leadership late on Thursday to work out strategies for taking union action forward – beyond Monday, August 2, when the strike is scheduled to end.
The Mail & Guardian understands that shop stewards from all three unions were being dispatched to union regions on Friday to galvanise support – and to brief members on the resolutions taken at the meeting.
The government has indicated an equally hard line, with Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser- Moleketi absent from her office and fulfilling routine duties in the North-West province – signalling the government has little interest in further negotiations in the short term.
The stand-off followed the rejection on Wednesday by the unions – the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’s Union (Nehawu); the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu); and the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) – of the government’s final offer. The government offered to add an additional R200-million to the R3-billion allocated for civil service salaries.
“There just wasn’t anything more in the budget,” Colin Msibi, Fraser-Moleketi’s representative, told the M&G. “Funds would have had to be drawn from relief programmes to come up with more money, and the government is not prepared to do that.”
In addition, the government has threatened to impose a strict no-work, no-pay rule on striking public servants.
Police representative Senior Superintendent Strini Govender indicated an equally hard line: “Police are forbidden to strike by both the Labour Relations Act and the police Act.
“We accept their democratic right to demonstrations … but only if they are on leave, or if demonstrations are undertaken at lunch time, and if the police personnel are not in uniform.”
Responding on behalf of Popcru, general secretary Abey Witbooi said members would report for work on Thursday, but only to picket and organise demonstrations.
“Our main aim is to ensure there is a disruption of services in support of our demands,” he insisted.
“On Friday there will be large-scale disruption of services if no solution is found,” Witbooi promised. He declined to specify how that aim would be achieved.
Meanwhile, the strike action was uneventful on Thursday, with essential services continuing to operate unaffected almost throughout the country.
Only schools were visibly affected with teachers reporting for work but then leaving immediately. Striking teachers planned to hold pickets on Friday as strike action intensifies.
Hospitals around the country reported little or no absenteeism, after Nehawu undertook to ensure essential health services would not grind to a halt on the first day of the strike. For the most part, strike action was confined to picketing in hospitals and other health sector venues.
But even if the present parleying escalates into a Cosatu general strike, it could prove to be only round one in a battle between the trade union giant and its alliance partner in government. The real battle will be fought over planned retrenchments in the civil service.
The government has indicated it intends to cut the public service dramatically, especially in sectors like education, where more than 90% of budgets are swallowed up by salaries.
However, the M&G understands that preliminary job audits undertaken by Cosatu in advance of a government audit have called for more jobs, not less, to be opened up in the education sector and the police service.
A government source said with two provincial job audits already completed though not yet publicised, “big fights are on the horizon”.
Vavi agreed: “We will be fighting retrenchments tooth and nail unless they are undertaken in accordance with agreed structures.”
Strike action did not appear to disrupt life in Cape Town with the exception of schools.
Across the Peninsula teachers reported for work only to leave again. It seemed schools in Guguletu and Langa were particularly hard hit.
Sadtu Western Cape general secretary Don Pasquallie said mass meetings have been organised to inform teachers of the government’s proposed pay hike and consult with members on the next steps.
Provincial Department of Education representative Tony Eaton said there was a strict no-work, no-pay rule in force. He admitted it was difficult to estimate the impact of the strike on schools, but was optimistic that teaching was taking place as only three of every seven educators belong to Sadtu.
“We have no idea of the general picture until figures are assembled,” he said, adding an accurate assessment would only be possible next week.
Reports that several Popcru officials had encouraged members to strike in the Western Cape as “this is a democratic right” could not be confirmed. Provincial union staff said they had received instructions from their national office that policemen and women and correctional services members could only strike or picket if it was their day off.
On Saturday Cosatu’s Western Cape branch is planning a march to protest against the thousands of job losses expected in various sectors this year.