SA's Union threaten to strike amid WC

  1. Posted on Thursday 10 June 2010 - 13:42
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    John Afful Jnr, AfricaNews reporter in Accra, Ghana
    South Africa's public sector unions on Thursday threaten to hold a national strike during the soccer World Cup in a dispute over pay and working conditions with the government. The union has turned down a 6.2 percent wage rise, demanding an above inflation 8.5 percent salary increase.
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    The union represents some 1.2 million workers including nurses, police officers, teachers and other government officials such as immigration staff.

    "If the conciliation efforts fail next (week on) Friday, we will have no choice but to strike in the middle of the World Cup," Manie de Clerq, secretary-general of the Public Servants Association disclosed to Reuters.

    Adding that a potential strike could include immigration officials, leaving the country's ports of entry short-staffed at a time when hundreds of thousands of visitors are descending on South Africa for the tournament.

    "It is unfortunate and we don't want to spoil the games but you can't give train drivers big increases and ignore state workers," said de Clerq referring to above inflation increases given to workers at the country's logistics group Transnet.
    Other union officials said they would strike only if all else failed.

    Meanwhile, Cabin crew returned to work on Thursday after the last of a series of five-day strikes which caused extensive disruption for potentially hundreds of thousands of customers and affected travellers to South Africa for the month-long football World Cup, which kicks off tomorrow.

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