This is the 4th strike the Pikitup workers have
embarked on since November 2015, and it
is another illegal strike. It is all about money.
The worst part is that the strikers are violent. They do not
enter into a peaceful strike; they prefer
to cause damage and destruction along the way.
Johannesburg city center is a mess
and a dangerous place to visit. Isn't South Africa a beautiful country?
SOURCE:
Johannesburg Pikitup workers back on strike
This is the fourth Pikitup strike since November 2015.
Among issues Samwu wants resolved was the benchmarking of job
descriptions with equal salaries for similar occupation at different depots, as
well as the immediate resignation of Pikitup managing director, Amanda Nair.
Last year, the trade union went on an illegal strike and laid criminal
charges against Nair, but Pikitup obtained a court interdict against its
workers.
Samwu’s deputy regional secretary, Paul Tlhabang, speaking on SAfm on
Thursday morning, said there was no eargerness from the management to speedily
resolve the ongoing dispute.
Tlhabang said some of their members were still earning less than R9,000 a
month when their colleagues at other depots doing the same job earned more than
R20,000.
“The workers are saying if you (Pikitup) cannot offer us at least
R15,000, then indicate to us how much you can put on the table. Instead what
management offered was just an insult. But management offered R150 and R200
salary increments, and members cannot accept that,” Tlhabang told the radio
station.
Tlhabang said the union would meet with management on Thursday at the
Mandating Committee, adding that “as long as the issue of salaries was not corrected,
the situation would not improve and service delivery would be affected”.
Tlhabang accused Pikitup boss Amanda Nair of being a “law unto herself
and untouchable”, saying Nair was sending managers to “deal” with Samwu members
through advocates for issues related to misconduct.
Nair, defending herself, said the issue of benchmarking salaries was a
“scientific one” and was out of her hands.
Nair said that she was merely implementing her mandate and she would
continue to do her job as long as the Pikitup Board and the political
leadership of the City of Joburg were happy with her.
“I’m not part of the benchmarking process, but Mr Tlhabang and Samwu
leadership at local and regional have been part of the process, they sit in the
technical task team. Samwu wants me to resign but I don’t wake up in the
morning and make a determination about workers’ salaries or policies,” Nair
said.
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