Pretoria - The CBD is expected to come to a standstill today as workers affiliated to the SA Municipal Workers (Samwu) take to the streets to demand a wage increase from the City of Tshwane.
The union is demanding a R4 000 wage increase across the board.
The protest will be staged amid fears that municipal workers may not receive an increase after Tshwane mayor Randall Williams revealed last week that the metro was financially bankrupt.
Williams also expressed concern that at least 50% of the City’s Budget was used to pay workers’ salaries, suggesting that the move was not sustainable in the long run.
Regarding the City’s financial situation, he said: “As the City stands currently, it is insolvent. We got a letter from the National Treasury that the City is insolvent.
“The current liability of the City amounts to R14 billion, and the current assets of the City amount to R11bn. So that means the liability exceeds the assets by R3bn."
The union’s regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane said workers would hand over memorandums of demand to both the Treasury and the municipality.
Marchers will demand answers from Williams and MMC forv finance Mare-lise Fourie about their recent public statements that suggested the City may reject the much-anticipated salary increase.
He said workers were irked by Fourie, who told the SA Local Government Association (Salga) that the City would not be able to meet the workers’ demand for a wage increase.
“We want the mayor to explain himself about what he actually meant when he said the City is broke. Our members are now worried that they may not receive wage increases,” Tladinyane said.
Workers are expected to gather at the old Putco depot at 10am and march to Tshwane House en route via Struben Street, and turn right to Sophie de Bruyn Street and then move left into Madiba Street, proceeding straight until they reach the National Treasury, where they will make a first stop.
They will then proceed to Tshwane House, where they will hand over another one.
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said officers would be deployed to monitor the march and control traffic in all affected streets.
“Motorists are advised to avoid the affected streets and use alternative routes such as Cowie Street, Kgosi Mampuru II Street, Bosman Street, Paul Kruger Street, Thabo Sehume Street and Lilian Ngoyi Street,” he said.
Tladinyane said part of the workers’ grievances would include the dilapidated and unsafe buildings of the municipality.
They would also complain about the intimidation of shop stewards by the senior managers in the City.
"We have challenges at the metro police department, and we have got issues with the power stations that are not well resourced," he said.
The union is currently engaging in salary and wage negotiations for municipal workers in the Salga Bargaining Council.
The employer body, Salga, has proposed a 2.8% wage increase for the 2021/22 financial year, while Samwu is demanding a R4 000 wage increase across the board.
It is expected that the outcome of the ongoing negotiations regarding a new collective agreement will be implemented from July 1.
Last week, Fourie said that whatever agreement was likely to be reached at the bargaining council would have to go to the council for consideration.
“Once the bargaining council has agreed with particular participating unions on the annual salary increase for municipal employees a report must be submitted to council to consider the financial implications,” she said.
Pretoria News