Unions threaten with rolling mass action

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Provincial Management, representing more than 180 000 workers employed in the public and private sectors, threatened to camp out in front of the Premier’s office until demands contained in a memorandum submitted to Premier Stan Mathabatha on Friday, were met.
A march, one of many countrywide, took place starting from SABC Park to the Office of the Premier and the South African Revenue Services (Sars). On the agenda were issues such as e-tolling, labour brokering, job losses and the unemployment statistics in the province.
Specific issues in various government departments and entities were mentioned in the memorandum. The demands were made that parking issues should be addressed, parking at the workplace should be free, housing rental issues should be addressed, outsourcing in government should be reversed and all vacant posts in the Department of Health should be filled. Issues faced by social workers such as lack if equipment and vehicles to do their jobs, the new academic tertiary hospital should be built and the long waiting periods in hospitals and clinics should be reduced. The budget for medical equipment, consumables and medication should also be increased in hospitals and increments and performance bonuses should also be paid.
Cosatu demanded the Department of Education should immediately pay all outstanding salaries of temporary teachers and vacancies caused by maternity leave, substitute posts and promotional posts should be filled, housing allowances be paid as agreed to in the bargaining chambers last year, rural allowances, acting allowances and performance bonuses should be paid too. Early childhood development teachers’ working conditions should also be enhanced.

Correctional Services staff members’ overtime, outstanding since 2009 should be paid. A shift system should be established and lower level vacancies should be filled and a special dispensation for all staff members with longer than eight years’ service in a rank should be implemented. The Police Service’s salary upgrades should be finalised and unconstitutional structures such as clusters and regions should be abolished, racist elements should be rooted out and decisions should be implemented unilaterally. Attention should be given to safety of members. Traffic officials with more than eight years’ service should also benefit by the implementation of a special dispensation and traffic intervention elite units should be abolished as should be un-procedural implementation of disciplinary matters.
Cosatu also demanded the Premier to intervene in the privatisation of the Gateway Airports Authority Limited, intervene in Great North Transport and appoint board members of all parastatals where their terms have expired. Free education, corruption and the implementation of the National Health Insurance were also on the list of demands submitted.
The union requested a formal response within seven days of submitting their demands and threatened rolling mass action and the disruption of government departments should their demands not be met.
A formal memorandum was also handed over to representatives of the Sars for the scrapping of taxation amendment laws and the implementation of comprehensive social security benefits to contribute to household income security.

Story and photos: NELIE ERASMUS
>>nelie.observer@gmail.com

Featured photo: Premier Stan Mathabatha signs acceptance of the memorandum of demands while Cosatu Provincial Branch Secretary, Gerald Twala offers his back as support for Mathabatha to sign.