Security industry workers have called on the government to introduce a minimum wage in their sector to address shortcomings in their conditions of service.
The call was made by members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) during a march to the Labour Department’s regional offices in downtown Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The marchers delivered a memorandum meant for Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, who is currently in Switzerland chairing a meeting of the International Labour Organisation’s governing body.
Iphapharus Motimele, assistant manager for inspection and enforcement services who received the memorandum on the minister’s behalf, said: “I understand what you are going through. I will hand it over to the authorities at our head office in Pretoria.”
The protesters have also requested the minister to institute a full investigation into the correct wages that should be paid to security-industry workers.
“Also, we ask the minister to look at terms and conditions of employment in our sector so as to outlaw contract work and other forms of atypical employment.”
Satawu has demanded that the minister should establish an “illegal practices committee in all provinces focusing on all issues of non-compliance in the sector so as to minimise unfair competition that results in the undermining of labour standards”.
Other demands include ensuring that “government, parastatals and private-sector policies be involved in the awarding of tenders and contracts to ensure compliance by security providers”.
The union further urged the minister to speed up his research into atypical employment and other unfair practices in the industry. It said the time has come for the role of labour brokers to be investigated, as this affects its members “negatively”.
The security industry employs just more than 210 000 workers, most of whom are non-unionised. — I-Net Bridge