Wiseman Khuzwayo
The 70 000 members of the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) would join the municipal workers’ strike as from Friday, the union said yesterday.
Imatu spokesman Simon Riekert said his union was late in joining the strike as it had not informed the employer, the SA Local Government Association (Salga), of its intention to do so while it waited for members to vote on the offer.
Riekert said: “We expect… 70 percent, if not more, of our members to come out.”
An estimated 15 percent of the members of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) are thought to have joined the strike that started on Monday.
Salga spokeswoman Milisa Kentane said reports from members indicated that there had not been much change in the effect of the strike. The union attributed the lack of participation to the cold weather.
Samwu will hold a press conference today to pronounce on the effect of the strike in Gauteng and address allegations of violence by members.
The ID and the DA yesterday condemned the destructive protests by striking Samwu members in Cape Town.
The ID’s secretary-general, Haniff Hoosen, said hundreds of unruly strikers went on the rampage, trashing the streets and destroying property.
DA spokesman Ian Ollis said that at today’s meeting of the private member’s legislative proposal committee, the party would ask why it had taken so long to discuss a bill submitted in March that seeks to hold unions liable for damage caused by their members.
Meanwhile, the government had agreed to pay civil servants 6.8 percent more and improve housing benefits, said Sizwe Pamla, a spokesman for the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union. A wage deal would be signed today. – Additional reporting by Sapa