SA workers strike at WC stadium

JOHANNESBURG – More than 1 000 labourers yesterday walked off the job at a South African soccer stadium work site, the latest in a string of disputes disrupting the nation’s preparations to host the 2010 World Cup.

The National Union of Mineworkers said its workers had downed their tools to press demands for bonuses and improved safety conditions at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban, one of 10 South African stadiums being built or refurbished for 2010. The wildcat strike followed a round of negotiations on Tuesday between the NUM, one of the biggest unions in the country, and the consortium building the stadium, according to Sapa news agency.”We wasted our time.We were locked in negotiations from yesterday,” Msi Poswa, an NUM regional organiser, told Sapa yesterday.The NUM is demanding project bonuses of 1,500 rand (US$232) a month for each worker and also that workers be allowed to elect a full-time safety compliance worker to address concerns about safety standards at the site.The labour dispute came less than two months after some 1 000 NUM workers walked off the job at Green Point stadium in Cape Town, which is also being built for the 2010 tournament, in a protest over the lack of travel benefits.The strike was settled about a week later after employers agreed to provide transport to the site from nearby Cape Town train station and compensate workers for past travel costs.South African officials are under pressure to ensure all the stadiums and other preparations for the World Cup are completed on time.They have played down the prospect that powerful labour unions could delay or block the work.South Africa has experienced a series of nationwide strikes this year, highlighted by a month-long public servants’ labour dispute that led to violent confrontations in the streets and brought services at schools and hospitals to a near standstill.Nampa-ReutersThe wildcat strike followed a round of negotiations on Tuesday between the NUM, one of the biggest unions in the country, and the consortium building the stadium, according to Sapa news agency.”We wasted our time.We were locked in negotiations from yesterday,” Msi Poswa, an NUM regional organiser, told Sapa yesterday.The NUM is demanding project bonuses of 1,500 rand (US$232) a month for each worker and also that workers be allowed to elect a full-time safety compliance worker to address concerns about safety standards at the site.The labour dispute came less than two months after some 1 000 NUM workers walked off the job at Green Point stadium in Cape Town, which is also being built for the 2010 tournament, in a protest over the lack of travel benefits.The strike was settled about a week later after employers agreed to provide transport to the site from nearby Cape Town train station and compensate workers for past travel costs.South African officials are under pressure to ensure all the stadiums and other preparations for the World Cup are completed on time.They have played down the prospect that powerful labour unions could delay or block the work.South Africa has experienced a series of nationwide strikes this year, highlighted by a month-long public servants’ labour dispute that led to violent confrontations in the streets and brought services at schools and hospitals to a near standstill.Nampa-Reuters