Public servants join city march to protest working conditions

A public service union has decided to join a general strike called by the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) in Pretoria today.

The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) said its march would start at the old Putco bus depot in Marabastad, where the marchers will gather. They will then proceed to the Gauteng department of infrastructure and development, a national treasury, the national department of health and at the presidency.

“The protesters will be demanding, among others, an R12 500 minimum wage for all workers, change economic policy – from exploitative and heartless capitalist to an egalitarian society where the means of production will serve the national good.

“They will also demand free, decolonised and high-quality public education and the right to strike without employer interference in the democratic functioning of unions,” said Nupsaw spokesperson Kagiso Makoe.

“Nupsaw encourages all its members, workers and society at large to partake in Saftu’s stay away to fight for the rights of workers and protect their gains.

“Millions of jobs have been destroyed and, for many, poverty has become more severe.”

She said Nupsaw had taken a decision not to allow the government to do as they pleased with its members and other workers.

“We have now reached a point where we can’t tolerate the government’s attitude towards our members and workers in general.”

According to Makoe, the government had reneged on the third leg of a wage agreement with the public servants and froze a wage increment, arguing that the increase was not affordable.

She said on 9 February, they had submitted a section 77 (1) (d) notice to Nedlac to give a 14-day notice of their intention to embark on today’s strike.

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“This notice protects all workers who wish to participate in the strike,” she said.

“No employer may victimise or penalise any worker who chose to participate in the strike, whether those workers are members of a different union or not.

“Every worker who decides to join in the strike has legal protection.”

Makoe said measures were in place to make sure that protesters adhered to Covid-19 lockdown regulations.

Saftu in a statement said the Covid-19 pandemic has starkly exposed South Africa’s inequalities at a time the country was already falling apart.

“We in Saftu will not just fold our arms while our economy crumbles, our communities suffer and the future of our children is stolen,” Saftu said.

The union said the battle against the pandemic did not unite South Africans, but divided them further.

“In what is already the world’s most unequal country, rich capitalists have gotten richer, while the working class is now much poorer.”

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