Letters of intention to dismiss 41 striking employees affiliated with the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) were issued by the City of Tshwane on Thursday and the City will also seek contempt of court orders immediately from the Labour Court.
A strike for salary increases of 3.5% and 5.4% by Samwu members has continued, despite an interim interdict granted by the Labour Court on July 28, declaring the strike action unprotected and unlawful, and ordering striking employees to disperse.
In addition, they were prohibited from participating in the unlawful strike or unprotected strike action or engaging in any acts that continued or furthered the strike action.
Furthermore, the striking workers were interdicted and restrained from performing any acts of destruction of the City of Tshwane's property or any private or public property, or from performing acts of intimidation against any of the city's employees.
The mayor of the City of Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, has described the situation as an assault on the metro. He has called on residents to understand why there was a disruption to services.
“The city is under assault by unprotected strike action with the use of violence and intimidation. We are seeing the disruption of services, the delay in attending to water and electricity outages. Waste collection is likely to be affected and our most vulnerable attending clinics are being targeted and personnel are being chased out and clinics are being closed,” he said.
Fifteen striking employees have been arrested and charged with public violence, as well as facing internal charges.
Selby Bokaba, City of Tshwane spokesperson said: “The City Manager has issued multiple ultimatums to the striking employees to return to work and to desist from intimidating their non-striking colleagues.”
Consequently, the city decided to approach the Labour Court again on Thursday for the enforcement of the interim interdict, which will enable the police to arrest the striking employees and Samwu leadership after the striking employees disobeyed the court order.
“Residents of Tshwane cannot be held to ransom by the striking employees who continue to prevent their colleagues from performing the duties for which they get paid. The majority of the employees report for duty, but are being prevented, intimidated, and victimised by their striking colleagues from executing their duties,” said Bokaba.
The city has put in place recovery plans to address the backlog as a result of the strike by employees.
“Turnaround times for attending to interruptions will be delayed due to intimidation of employees,” said Bokaba.
The city has once again apologised to its residents and customers for the inconvenience caused as a result of the strike action.
IOL