Samwu to return to Tshwane House over ‘unpaid’ wage hikes

For the second time in less than a week, the municipal workers will protest over various issues, including the non-payment of salary increases.

Workers downed tools earlier this week, demanding 3.5% and 5.4% salary increases.

However, Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink has already indicated that the city’s dire financial state means it cannot afford to pay any salary increases to municipal workers.

The protest has led to the disruptions of municipal services across the city, including bus operations.

Samwu’s regional secretary in Tshwane Precious Theledi says the trade union will deliver a memorandum of demands to the mayor.

"The demands are still the same, and yesterday (Thursday) we agreed with our members that it is important that Tshwane Mayor (Cilliers Brink) receive our memorandum so that he can deal with the issues that we are raising.

“The mayor and the city manager (Johann Mettler) were informed, and they agreed that they would come today to receive the memorandum.

“The response from the mayor will determine the way forward. For now, our main goal is for him to receive the memorandum and indicate when he is going to pay.”

The latest protest march comes after a compliance order was issued by the South African Local Government Bargaining Council, which directed the city to pay workers their 5.4% salary and wage increase as per the 2021 agreement.

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