Cape Town - It’s day four of the protest by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) at Parliament.
On Thursday morning, workers again gathered in their red union T-shirts at Poorthuis side entrance - although Parliament on Wednesday obtained a new interdict a day after claiming it was covered by a September 2010 one.
The new interdict was also illegal like the 2010 one, Nehawu parliamentary branch chairman S’tembiso Tembe told workers.
“We are not going to respect that interdict. It is not issued in good faith. It is issued to suppress workers,” he told several hundred protesters, who downed tools over a dispute over performance bonuses and conditions of service.
This comes as Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana is again fingered for being less than truthful.
Wednesday night’s negotiations between Parliament and the union spent much time on the national legislature explaining the budget process.
“Management is greedy. When we got a 9% (salary increase in June), they also gave themselves 9%,” said Tembe.
“We are not going to play games with management. We are not going to back down.”
On Wednesday, public order police fired volleys of stun grenades and several smoke grenades to disperse workers, but later backed off after opposition political parties, and later the ANC, intervened.
On Thursday - from about 10am - meetings are understood to be taking place between Mgidlana, Parliament’s presiding officers Speaker Baleka Mbete and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chairwoman Thandi Modise, as well as meetings between Parliament’s administration and the union. Nehawu president Mzwandile Makwayiba will arrive later on Thursday.
The protest at Parliament is taking a national turn: on Friday, Nehawu workers at the Gauteng legislature will observe a moment of silence, said Tembe, while messages of support have come from the legislatures in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.
On Wednesday, labour federation Cosatu backed the Nehawu workers’ demands at Parliament in a “legal agreement”, condemning the use of excessive force by police.
This is the first time national Nehawu office-bearers have entered the long-standing labour dispute dating back to 2014. On Monday, deputy general-secretary Zola Sapetha met the Nehawu parliamentary branch, undertaking to mobilise national support for an agreement he described as valid.
Nehawu represents 981 of the 1 389 parliamentary staff, mostly white-collar employees in the committee and document sections, translation units and the parliamentary protection services. It is the largest Nehawu branch in the Western Cape.
However, Parliament has taken a hardline stance: Mgidlana on Wednesday said there had been no option but to call in the police - the presiding officers issued this instruction, he confirmed - a sentiment backed by the presiding officers in a later statement.
On Wednesday again, he said the union was disingenuous by raising new issues, which fell outside the agreement that was valid until March 2017.
It has since emerged that both sides in the dispute are referencing their positions on separate agreements: Nehawu cites the March 2017 agreement, which states performance bonuses must be paid on a total-cost-to-company package, alongside issues like group life and pension, while Parliament appears to rely on the June 2015 agreement which settled the wage increase.
Parliament on Wednesday defended calling in the public order police - stun and smoke grenades were fired for the second time since the #FeesMustFall protest three weeks ago - saying this action was forced when Nehawu protesters interrupted committee proceedings.
The order for police came from Speaker Baleka Mbete and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chairwoman Thandi Modise in line with the 2004 Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, said Mgidlana.
While several committee meetings were halted - it emerged on Thursday morning that Taking Parliament to the People next week has been postponed - Wednesday’s sitting of the House continued in terms of the agreement brokered by political parties, which saw police stand down and protesters undertaking not to go near the collonaded steps to the National Assembly.
On Thursday morning, Nehawu protesters were adamant their protests would continue.
Some senior police officers who are seconded to Parliament to assist with access control and other functions are watching the protests.
Nehawu members are singing “ePalamente sifuna imali. Asonwabanga! (Parliament, we want money. We are not happy)” - which has become the refrain for the protests. #MgidlanaMustFall is the other.
Political Bureau