There is a "willingness" by both the City of Johannesburg and Samwu to bring the Pikitup strike to an end, a city spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Uncollected rubbish littering the streets of Johannesburg city centre has triggered a rat infestation that poses health risks, media reported.
As a strike by refuse workers drags on, the streets of Johannesburg have been turned into a dumping ground.
Samwu said on Wednesday that it had accepted an offer to end a refuse-worker strike, but that Pikitup management did not sign the agreement.
Johannesburg’s refuse collectors, employed by waste-management agency Pikitup, began a full-blown strike on Thursday morning, Samwu said.
Metrobus drivers were back on the roads on Tuesday morning after a five-week strike against a shift system implemented last December.
Negotiations between Metrobus and Samwu were still deadlocked on Thursday and no further talks had taken place to end a month-long strike.
Talks between Metrobus and Samwu aimed at ending a month-long strike have deadlocked, an official said on Wednesday.
Municipal services will be restored as soon as possible after a strike was resolved on Wednesday, the SA Local Government Association (Salga) says.
The countrywide municipal strike is over, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) said on Wednesday.
Samwu was back in talks on Monday afternoon with Salga in the hope of ending a week-long strike that has disrupted major services.
Striking municipal workers halted picketing on Friday to be briefed on a new offer by the employers, a union spokesperson said.
Streets littered with refuse and looted stalls belonging to hawkers were left in the wake of SA Municipal Workers’ Union protest marches on Thursday.
A festive atmosphere reigned at Johannesburg’s Mary Fitzgerald Square as Samwu members danced ahead of a march through the city centre on Thursday.
Samwu leaders will meet their employer, the SA Local Government Association (Salga), on Wednesday to try to resolve an ongoing national strike.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union nationwide strike continued on Wednesday, and would do so indefinitely, a spokesperson said.
The SA Local Government Association has withdrawn its Labour Court application to halt a nationwide strike by municipal workers.
Thousands of striking South African municipal workers took to the streets on Monday, demanding higher wages.
Traffic in the Johannesburg city centre was disrupted on Monday as Samwu members marched to hand over a memorandum of their demands.
Up to 60 000 workers aligned with Samwu will stage a nationwide strike following a failed application by their employer to halt the action.
There is a movement within the ANC to push for a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma later this year, Samwu said on Friday.
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/ 13 January 2010
ANC president Jacob Zuma’s remarks about municipal workers holding leadership positions in political parties has "disturbed" Samwu.
The relationship between workers and Johannesburg Metro Police chief Chris Ngcobo has been irreparably damaged, a union said on Tuesday.
The five-day strike by South Africa’s municipal workers is over, Samwu and Imatu said on Friday.
Negotiations between municipal workers and their employers remain deadlocked, unions said on Thursday afternoon.
Samwu, whose members have been on strike since Monday, on Thursday rejected the employer’s latest wage offer.
Unions representing municipal workers were inching closer to a wage deal, an official said ahead of a meeting with the employer on Thursday.
Samwu on Wednesday dismissed criticism of its members trashing city streets as ”class-based responses”.
Municipal worker unions are set to decide on Wednesday if a new wage offer would be accepted as a national strike enters its third day.
Johannesburg motorists have been warned to steer clear of the CBD on Tuesday as a protest by municipal workers over low wages is set to continue.
Several protesters were injured by rubber bullets as thousands of municipal workers took to the streets on Monday to demand better pay.
Thousands of municipal workers went on strike on Monday to press for wage hikes in a move expected to cripple public services nationwide.