A strike by Nehawu members over wages at the University of SA (Unisa) spread to other provinces on Thursday, the union said.
Hundreds of employees protested outside the university’s head offices in Pretoria on Wednesday.
“Staff in other campuses in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo have joined the strike,” National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said.
“We are still waiting for feedback from the other provinces.”
Nehawu declared a dispute after Unisa refused its demand of a 12% across-the-board annual salary increase. The university had offered 8,5%.
The protest, involving academic and support staff, moved from the Pretoria head office to the Sunnyside campus on Thursday morning after management told the union it had only agreed to Wednesday’s strike.
“We don’t know what they are talking about because we did not apply for a day’s strike. So, the strike is continuing and spreading to other parts of the country.”
Pamla said the union was trying to get management to address workers and explain their position on the salary issues.
“The salary negotiations have been going on since the beginning of the year, and management cannot hide away when workers are still unhappy six months down the line.”
Union leaders would meet on Thursday to examine the effects of the strike and management’s response to it. They would also map out a way forward. Pamla said the strike would negatively affect on the running of the university because Nehawu represented about 50% of Unisa staff.
However Unisa spokesperson Lehuma Ntuane said the union only represented 27% of staff and that services at the university were expected to run smoothly throughout the strike.
“Today’s [Thursday] protests are illegal. Management only agreed to Wednesday’s protest,” said Ntuane.
According to him, Unisa was aware of demonstrations in other provinces and maintained the strike was unprotected.
“We are considering getting a court interdict to stop the strike.”
He said the “no-work, no-pay” principle applied.
Police had been asked to ensure the institution’s property was safe and that non-striking workers were not intimidated by strikers.
Ntuane said Nehawu had until Monday to return to the negotiation table, failing which the employer would implement the 8,5% offer.
“They may counter that notion and evoke another process, like going the CCMA [Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration] route.”
He said the university felt its offer was more than generous.
“This is our final offer. It is not only generous, but much higher than what other tertiary institutions have agreed on.”
Bonuses and pay progression were not ordinarily paid at tertiary institutions and should be seen as an additional benefit for Unisa employees. – Sapa