Tshwane vows to avoid strike as Samwu talks continue
Disgruntled City of Tshwane workers have gathered outside Tshwane House in Centurion amid negotiations between unions and the city manager.
Negotiations between South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), the Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and the city have entered a second day on Wednesday with no agreement in sight.
Earlier this year, an agreement was reached between the different parties but the unions now say they are still waiting for certain parts to be implemented.
The demands include the fast-tracking of the benchmarking process.
"In dispute are two issues related to implementation. One, we are saying the payment that is supposed to accrued to workers must be done from 1 July 2017," Samwu regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane explains.
"The second part was that we want this money to be paid by December 2019."
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The union is also accusing Mashaba of halting deposits of subscription funds to the union. The funds allegedly stand at R30 million. "Our subscriptions are balancing the financial sheets of the City of Johannesburg. The City of Johannesburg is claiming to be in a good financial condition, which is not true.
According to Tladinyane, the city maintains the salary increases would only take effect from July 2018.
The negotiations were put on hold until Wednesday after acting city manager Moeketsi Ntsimane requested to share the union’s proposal with Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa.
"We are not here to negotiate, but to get feedback on their meeting with the executive mayor," says Tladinyane.
The city has given an assurance that it is doing its utmost to avert any possible strike action.
Omogolo Taunyane says the city cannot afford any setbacks.
"We are avoiding another strike," says Taunyane.