"The strike will affect all offices of the Bargaining Council in all the provinces; a total of 14 offices will be affected," spokesperson Mike Abrahams said in a statement on Saturday. "Workers, after a lengthy negotiation and legal processes, reached a deadlock with the employer."
The The SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) strike would start on Monday and the union had a certificate to embark on a protected strike, he said. He said many workers were still earning about R4500 a month and were demanding a wage increase of 15% while the council was offering 6%.
Workers also demand fully paid maternity leave, a 2.5% provident fund contribution from the employer and a car allowance of R7500 while the employer had made no offer. "Saccawu believe these are just and realisable demands and only the intransigence of management are standing in the way of resolving this dispute," said Abrahams.
Meanwhile Corruption Watch said it had received 13 reports of alleged corruption and mismanagement involving trade unions, the M&G reported on Friday.
"Five Cosatu affiliates were implicated in eight of these reports: Satawu, Popcru, Saccawu, Pawusa and Ceppwawu," said Corruption Watch's executive director, David Lewis. "We conducted a preliminary investigation into one of these, namely a report alleging corruption at Satawu. However, when we read media reports to the effect that formal charges had been levelled against certain Satawu officials, we decided not to proceed with our investigation on the grounds that we were unlikely to add value to the police investigation."
These investigations come as Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi continues to fight off attempts to oust him from the federation's top leadership. Vavi is under investigation by Cosatu top brass and is likely to be removed from his position at next month's central executive committee meeting. – Sapa and staff reporter