Protesting Tshwane workers face ‘no work, no pay’ threat
Protesting Tshwane municipal employees are possibly facing a prospect of “no work, no pay”.
The workers, members of SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the Tshwane metro have been involved in long wage talks that recently collapsed.
On Tuesday, negotiations between Samwu, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and a team of administrators could not agree on envisaged wage increases as metro faced a loss in revenue since lockdown.
This led to an unprotected industrial action, accompanied by destruction of municipal property by the workers, culminating in services, including the Tshwane bus service, coming to a halt on Wednesday.
Protesting workers also trashed Tshwane House municipal headquarters on Tuesday, destroying property and emptying bins throughout the CBD streets.
Gauteng local government MEC Lebogang Maile condemned the “criminal inclined tactic” used by the municipal workers to “force” the metro to concede to their demands.
“Organised labour has resorted to industrial action without following due processes of declaring a dispute and submitting a 48-hour strike notice, as per the labour relations act.
“We call on organised labour, irrespective of their union logos or T-shirt colours to disengage from industrial action. The doors for engagement are open in order to find an amicable solution,” said Maile.
He called on the workers to suspend their industrial action and return to the bargaining table and allow negotiations to continue.
“We also urge both parties to negotiate in good faith,” Maile said.
He said by law, the Tshwane metro could seek a court interdict or alternatively enforce the principle of “no work, no pay” against all employees who have embarked on an unprotected industrial action.
“The right to strike should not be abused or used to undermine collective bargaining processes. We appeal to organised labour to go back to the bargaining table,” Maile said, adding his department was prepared to meet with labour to solicit a deeper understanding of their collective bargaining demands and resolve the stand-off.
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