The strike by some South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) members is ill-timed and has the potential of disrupting learning and teaching in schools, Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said on Thursday.
Sadtu planned protest marches on Thursday in all nine provinces.
”Moreover, we are a month away from the annual matriculation examinations and this period is critical to adequately prepare our learners for the most important examinations they will face,” the minister said in a statement.
It is hoped Sadtu will not pursue any further industrial action beyond Thursday.
”We urge Sadtu to return to the bargaining chamber to reach an amicable resolution to the wage negotiation dispute,” Fraser-Moleketi said.
Provincial heads of department will start implementing the no-work-no-pay principle with immediate effect.
In cases where teachers stayed away from work the whole day, they will lose the whole day’s salary. In cases where they were not at work for part of the day, deductions will be made on a pro-rata basis.
All public service employees who participated in this industrial action, but are not members of Sadtu, will be subjected to disciplinary hearings, as well as losing a day’s salary in terms of the no-work-no-pay principle, the minister said.
In a separate statement, the Education Ministry also condemned the strike action, saying the salary negotiations at the Public Service Bargaining Chamber are at an advanced stage, and such action impacts drastically on thousands of pupils.
”The ministry is especially concerned about the impact of such action on matriculants at a time when we are only a month away from the senior certificate examinations, which start in earnest in October 2004.
”Strike action by teachers is likely to cause anxiety among matriculants, their parents and indeed the country as a whole.”
The proposed action does not add any value to the current negotiations taking place at the bargaining chamber, especially because the major issues affecting educators, such as the issue of salary backlogs, have now been addressed through the proposals tabled by the government on August 30, the statement said.
Streets in Johannesburg were closed off on Thursday for the Sadtu protest march. The union was to hand a memorandum to the Gauteng provincial minister for education, Angie Motshekga.
In the memorandum, Sadtu said its members are ”frustrated by the deliberate attempts of the employer to undermine negotiations” over teachers’ salaries and related matters.
”Teachers are workers, and workers around the world are being threatened by employers in grossly violating their conditions of service,” Sadtu said.
The union’s demands include a 7% across-the-board salary increase for 2004 as well as universal housing and medical-aid allowances.
Sadtu added: ”It is clear that despite all efforts from the side of labour to find common ground, negotiations have reached a dead end. Unless the employer indicates a willingness to negotiate in good faith, the public service is heading for a crisis.” — Sapa