Samwu tells Tshwane mayor ‘it’s not a strike, it’s a meeting’
Tshwane employees affiliated with the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) deny being on what mayor Cilliers Brink has described as an unprotected strike.
At least 14 workers have been arrested and charged with public violence and malicious damage to property after a protest outside Tshwane House turned violent on Wednesday.
Workers are demanding that the metro honour the 3.5% wage hike from the 2021/2022 financial year, in addition to the current demand for a 5.4% wage increase.
Services in the city have been disrupted after workers abandoned their various posts.
“As residents of Tshwane, we can’t tolerate unprotected strike action. We can’t have clinics being closed down, busses being stoned, and communities being punished,” Brink said during his address to frustrated workers outside Tshwane House on Friday.
But Samwu’s national general secretary Dumisane Magagula said workers should not accept being told they are on an unprotected strike.
"What is happening here in Tshwane is not a strike, we know what a strike is. This is a meeting where employees are awaiting a response from the executive Mayor."
WATCH: Samwu General Secretary Dumisani Magagula addresses City of Tshwane workers, assuring them that they have the support of yhe union’s national office. He responds to Mayor Brink: “#Samwu in Tshwane is not on strike. We are in a meeting, waiting for an answer from you” pic.twitter.com/Hn9Vngq1NH
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) July 28, 2023
Magagula assured workers that they have the support of the union’s national office, adding that they reject the city’s insistence that it can’t afford to pay workers what they are demanding.
“We are very disappointed with the response from the executive mayor. What he simply told us is that they are not going to pay. He called this meeting to tell workers the same thing that they know, which they have not accepted.”
He said the Tshwane intentionally decided not to budget for salary hikes. But Mayor Brink said the city’s exemption application for a 0% salary increase in the current financial year was not done in bad faith.
“Tshwane has endured a number of shocks through the years, and our finances are not what they should be. We desperately want to be in a position where we can pay workers’ salaries.
“The decision by the municipal council in June was not to punish workers. It was to take a set of measures, including applying for exemption from salary increases to rescue and stabilize the finances of the city.”
Tshwane to file an exemption application to the bargaining council on the payment of salary and wage increases. pic.twitter.com/6Dk29xxRCi
— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) July 28, 2023
Brink said he understands this is the last thing workers want to hear: “This is also not the final step. We have to apply for a bargaining council exemption. But also, if the finances of the city improve – and workers have a crucial role in achieving this – we will reconsider the situation.”
While the mayor said they would revisit the issue should the city’s revenue collection and other factors improve, workers vowed they would return to the streets on Monday if they didn’t get a favourable response.
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