/ 16 April 2008

CCMA brokers agreement in Nelspruit 2010 stadium strike

Intervention by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on Wednesday brought an end to the pay dispute between workers and management at the 2010 Soccer World Cup Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.

Spokesperson Lusanda Myoli said an agreement was reached after two days of intense negotiations between the Mbombela local municipality, the Department of Sports and Recreation, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Mbombela Stadium Joint Venture (Basil Read/Bouygues Civil Works).

”The CCMA believes the agreement will bring an end to the labour problems at the site and will be supporting the efforts to improve workplace relations going forward.”

The NUM said construction workers at the venue could now ”smile all the way to the bank”.

”Workers will, with effect from February 2008, be paid according to the Civil Engineering rates of R12,11 per hour instead of the R10,00 per hour they have been receiving,” said spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka.

”This is in terms of the sectoral determination and an agreement reached between Mbombela and NUM.”

Workers would further receive a bonus comprising 128 hours of remuneration instead of the previous 110 hours.

According to the NUM, management had agreed to work closely with the union to ensure that a recognition agreement was concluded and that no workers were dismissed as a result of the illegal strike action.

”We are glad that this matter has now been laid to rest, but disappointed that we had to strike more than three times before getting what we wanted,” said Bhekani Ngcobo, construction coordinator.

”This confirms that indeed employers understand the language of strike action before they can move to deliver on workers’ demands,” he said.

The construction of the Nelspruit stadium has been plagued by industrial action since last year. — Sapa