SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) officials waited in vain on Wednesday evening for SA Local Government Association (Salga) negotiators to arrive to negotiate in an attempt to end the workers’ nine-day strike.
Samwu said they had hoped to continue negotiations to end the work stoppage by municipal employees over a wage increase. Samwu representative Anna Weekes said the discussions would have centred on Salga’s latest wage offer made this week.
Salga representatives were not available for comment.
Weekes would not divulge the amount involved but said the strikers have been canvassed since Tuesday.
Salga apparently made the offer when the task teams of the two parties met following public pressure from Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana and the Congress of SA Trade Unions on Salga to resume negotiations.
The stalled negotiations have led to some municipalities releasing press statements during the week incorrectly saying that an agreement had been reached and employees were expected to resume work.
Salga officials could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night.
The strike — Samwu’s first in seven years — commenced on July 2 after Salga’s refusal to review its final eight percent across-the-board offer as against the union’s ten percent demand.
Meanwhile Samwu on Wednesday filed an urgent court order in a bid to compel the Cape Town unicity to grant permission for a march scheduled for Thursday.
This followed the unicity’s refusal to grant municipal workers permission to march from Kaisergracht at 9am.
Samwu’s Cape Town branch secretary Andre Adams condemned the ban as ”disgusting”, saying it prohibited the union from exercising its constitutional right.
”The unicity’s refusal of permission flies in the face of their statements to the media today that the strike was ‘over’ in Cape Town and that most workers had gone back to work.
”If so few people are still on strike, then why is the unicity trying to crush the march tomorrow?” he asked. – Sapa