Three of South Africa’s trade-union giants, with a combined membership of about 600 000, are considering sympathy action with striking public servants.
The country’s largest union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will meet attorneys on Thursday to see if full-blown industrial action can be taken in a shorter period than the required seven days’ notice.
The union has 280 000 members in the mining, construction and energy sectors.
Spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the union’s central executive committee had decided to ”fully support” the strike as mandated by members.
”The members are now mobilised to participate in the strike.”
The 120 000-strong South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) — the country’s largest local government union — said a mandate from union members would be finalised by Friday.
”There is likelihood that we will be joining the strike,” general secretary Mthandeki Nhlapo told the South African Press Association.
The union’s Eastern Cape branch will join public-sector pickets on Friday.
Provincial secretary Siphiwo Ndunyana said members of the public concerned at the stoppage of services at schools and hospitals should direct their anger away from workers and towards government.
”An increase of 0,5% on the offer of 6% is nothing — the government is just playing with the workers.”
He accused Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi of wanting to divide workers from communities ”as the apartheid regime” did by ”negotiating in bad faith”.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has called upon its 220 000 members to stage lunch-time demonstrations at factories on Friday.
Spokesperson Mziwakhe Hlangani said legal advice should have been sought by Monday on other forms of solidarity action and possible secondary strikes.
”We need legal opinion on whether we can consider secondary strike action in support of the public service.”
The three unions are affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the largest trade union federation in the country.
The federation held its central executive committee meeting from Monday to Wednesday.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven expected that more affiliates would offer sympathy action after a resolution was taken at the meeting to support public-sector workers.
On Wednesday, the Communication Workers’ Union also said it will embark on a secondary strike from June 14 in support of public servants.
The union has 44 000 members and is a Cosatu affiliate.
”The action will take different forms including, but not limited to, the following: go-slows, work-to-rule, marches, pickets and other forms of demonstrations,” said general secretary Gallant
Roberts.
The joint public service action by Cosatu members, independent unions and affiliates of the Federation of Unions of South Africa began last Friday.
On Monday the unions in the Public Sector Coordinating Bargaining Council rejected the government’s revised pay package of a proposed 6,5% general increase.
It was not immediately clear when negotiations in the council would resume.
Complete shutdown
Meanwhile, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) ”fully agrees” with the call by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) for strikers to completely shut down all public services in the Western Cape by Friday.
Sadtu Western Cape secretary Jonavon Rustin said the union would strategise on the best methods for ensuring a complete shut-down of services by Friday.
Nehawu provincial secretary Suraya Jawoodeen said Nehawu was intensifying its strike action and re-mobilising all members to ensure a complete shut-down by Friday.
”There will be no normal functioning in any department by Friday,” Jawoodeen said.
”The strike only ends when government puts something more substantial on the table.”
Earlier, Jawoodeen told the South African Press Association the Western Cape health department was completely ”overextending itself” by threatening disciplinary action against strikers.
This would cause a ”permanent effect” on labour relations after the strike, said Jawoodeen.
Provincial health department spokesperson Faiza Steyn said she was ”not going to speculate” on union plans for a complete shutdown on Friday.
”[The department] takes it one day at a time,” she said. — Sapa