SA strike loggerhead persists

JOHANNESBURG – Striking South African state workers staged a protest march yesterday after rejecting a revised wage offer aimed at ending their three-week strike that has the government and the labour movement at loggerheads.

The majority of unions, most of which are in the largest labour federation Cosatu, voted against the offer on Wednesday, prolonging a strike by 1,3 million state workers that a prominent economist said was costing about R1 billion a day.

The strike has shut schools, led to bodies piling up in state morgues and thrown cold water on the national euphoria over hosting the June-July football World Cup. It also has dampened investor sentiment for Africa’s biggest economy.

The government has said it cannot afford the offer it has on the table, let alone anything higher, and will have to make cuts elsewhere to meet it.

“There are behind-the-scenes political discussions going on. I cannot give more details but leaders will continue to work for a solution,” Cosatu Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi told Reuters.

A formal bargaining session between labour and government officials planned for yesterday will now likely to take place on Monday as unions seek more time to persuade their rank-and-file members to reconsider the offer, officials said.

“We expect to hear from unions after they consult members. It’s unlikely that they will be done today,” Dumisani Nkwamba, spokesman for the public service ministry, said.

Hundreds of striking state workers dressed in red T-shirts, sang and shouted in a protest march through the streets of Johannesburg, calling on government to meet their demands.

The government, which offered workers a 7,5 per cent pay raise and R800 a month for housing, has said it will be forced to make budget cuts and seek funds to pay for it.

The housing allowance total is twice as much as the government spends on environmental protection and nearly double the cost of a new plan to expand antiretroviral therapy in the country with one of the world’s highest infection rates of HIV/Aids.

The unions, whose state sector members include prison guards, teachers, nurses and immigration officers, have been demanding a rise of 8,6 per cent, well above the 3,7 per cent inflation rate, and R1 000 rand for housing.

“Simply put, there is no money available. The resources to cover the draft agreement proposal will have to come from reducing expenditure in other areas in the budget,” government spokesman Themba Maseko said.

A deal based on the government’s offer and what the unions are demanding would likely swell state spending by one to two per cent, making it more difficult for the government to meet its goal of cutting the deficit from 6,7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Union leaders said they would continue to consult their members, and labour sources said they felt the offer had not been properly explained to the rank and file, indicating they were trying to reverse the vote and seek approval for the deal.

A separate labour dispute by 70 000 workers seeking 20 per cent wage increases in petrol stations, garages and auto dealerships entered its second day with a protest march planned for Saturday in Durban, the Numsa union said.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has said more than 8 000 workers at Northam Platinum would go on a pay strike on Monday, as new wage talks collapsed at another mine. 

Northam, which produced 321 475 ounces of platinum group metals (PGMs) in the year to end-June, has offered workers an eight per cent increase on a two-year deal. The union is demanding a 15 per cent wage rise.

Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), a Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton joint venture yesterday tentatively agreed a pay deal with workers to end a week-long strike, a company official said.

RBM spokeswoman Nthabiseng Motsepe said it was yet unclear when the striking workers would return to work.

Seshoka said Richards Bay Minerals had stuck to its eight per cent wage offer for 2010, but proposed an average 8,5 per cent pay rise for the following two years, up from its previous eight per cent offer, depending on the rate of inflation in South Africa. – Nampa-Reuters

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