Tshwane protest: Union wants workers to be paid by Friday
"The South African Municipal Workers Union does not agree with the Tshwane metro on the deadlines set to pay its workers benchmarking monies."
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in Tshwane said its members did not agree with time frames proposed by the Tshwane metro to pay benchmarking monies owed to them.
The earliest the metro has been given to pay the first batch of money is Friday.
It is unclear at this stage whether union members would go back on strike if the metro cannot meet this deadline.
Service delivery in Tshwane was affected when municipal workers downed tools almost three weeks ago, calling for the implementation of a 6.25% annual wage increase and implementation of a benchmarking agreement.
The Tshwane metro suggested that workers be paid the first tranche of the benchmarking monies for the 2017/18 financial year, at the end of August 2020.
Payment for the 2018/19 financial year will be made before the end of 2020.
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Samwu regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane said the union consulted its members in various constituencies and has been since mandated to agree to the metro’s proposal, but on certain conditions:
“That we accept the one-year payment to be effected immediately latest by Friday, 14 August 2020,” Tladinyane said.
“That all those who are covered by the collective agreement be paid.
“That the second payment be effected before end of December 2020; and that if efforts to realise savings by the end of August 2020 through the chief audit executive bear fruits, payments be made earlier than December 2020.”
He said their members have also mandated the union to come up with strategies on how they could assist the metro’s revenue enhancement and further identify and close “leakages in the system” including corruption.
“We will, therefore, going forward fighting for re-municipalisation of services,” he said.
ALSO READ: Tshwane gets interdict against Samwu protesting workers
Tladinyane said the union “single-handedly fought hard to ensure that workers secured the best possible deal considering the difficult economic situation we are currently facing”.
“This is the best deal we could achieve, especially when one looks at the challenges in other sectors in the country,” he said.
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