Is striking really the solution to our problems?
The high rates of strike actions in South Africa are a bit disturbing and alarming.
I doubt I will ever understand the concept of destroying something in order to gain something.
Yes, striking is a human right. It is an enshrined right within the Constitution but how we go about it, is it really working for us as a society?
Which takes us to the question of who should be given the right to strike and who shouldn’t.
Not so long ago the police force was threatening to down tools for a national strike. Now imagine if the police went on a strike. Who was going to protect the citizens in a country which has a high crime rate?
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But my main concern is how we go about the whole striking process, the various tactics used in almost every striking action, which have a negative impact on the lives and property of other people, the economy, health and businesses.
Things like vandalising property, burning public establishments and public service entities, trashing cities, forming picket lines at the supermarkets and preventing ordinary citizens to go about their lives.
Why destroy things that are meant to benefit you in the name of another need.
People get criminal records because of such things. They get dismissed from work and some even retrenched.
There have been strike-related disruptions in almost every sector of the economy with no one held responsible for the damage.
But in my opinion, this is a work in reverse strategy because at the end of the day the people are the ones who always end up suffering more.
We cannot be damaging and disrupting the lives of people.
Strikes that are work-related can result in employees being dismissed for damaging property, mostly get retrenched and arrested and prosecuted for committing a criminal offence during the strike.
The principle of “no work – no pay” applies.
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The employer does not have to pay the employees during a strike.
However, the employer has to make payments in kind which include food, accommodation and other benefits such as pension, medical aid and so on.
