The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) was on Monday arranging a meeting of security guards and employers in the hope of resolving the strike in which another two guards were killed over the weekend.
”We are calling a meeting for tomorrow [Tuesday] morning in the hope that we can find a solution,” CCMA spokesperson Nerine Khan said.
This would include all employers and all the unions involved. The meeting has been scheduled to start at 10am.
The pay strike began on March 23 in a dispute over the 8% percent offered by employers, accepted by 14 unions, but rejected by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), who are holding out for 11%.
Jackson Simon, Satawu’s co-ordinator for the security industry, confirmed that there was a possibility of a meeting and told the South African Press Association the union would spend Monday seeking a mandate from its members on how to proceed during the meeting.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha told guards at Beyers Naude Square on Monday that the union had resolved to give Satawu money for a solidarity fund to continue their strike. He said the central executive committee had already signed the cheque and was ready to hand it over, so that the union would not be liquidated.
Liquidation would play into security bosses hands and give them a reason to end the strike.
”If we go back without winning this then we are finished for the rest of our lives,” he said.
He told the South African Press Association afterwards that the money was intended for further court costs and any other expenses the union incurred while negotiating an end to the pay dispute.
Meanwhile, a guard was found dead in Port Elizabeth on Sunday after receiving death threats, and in Mariannhill, outside Durban, a guard was found dead — stabbed in the head.
Last week Satawu was prevented by a court interdict from extending the strike to other sectors of its union in sympathy with its security sector members. – Sapa