Workers protest in spite of agreement

POLOKWANE – Despite the department of health’s warning to employees that they would forgo payment on days that they engage in strike action, health workers took to the streets on Thursday to protest the non-payment of their performance bonuses.

Last Wednesday, the department’s spokesperson, Macks Lesufi, said the department’s planned workshop on performance management and development systems was disrupted by strike action and forced the department to issue a warning to illegal strikers.

He said the department had started the process to clear the backlog of bonus payments and that all payments would be completed in the next payment run.

On Thursday, employees of the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital took to the streets and marched to the department’s offices in College Street.

They claimed that the department was lying about their payments and they demanded to be heard.

“The department promised that the payment problems would be sorted out by June 9, but missed this cut-off date.

“We want to force the department to stop their delaying tactics and pay us what we are owed,” one protester told Review.

“The backlogs don’t have anything to do with us. Why must we suffer for others’ mistakes?”

Department officials refused to meet with the protesters and gave employees an ultimatum to return to their duties or face disciplinary action.

According to Lesufi, the department wanted to press charges against the shop stewards because they did not abide by a previous agreement between the department and the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu).

Illegal strike action led to several service disruptions at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital and the Mankweng hospital over the past month.

Jacobs Adams, Nehawu representative for Limpopo, said the union agreed to the department’s offer that addressed all employees’ issues. “We agreed that each case would be treated on merit,” he explained.