Samwu workers at Mangaung Metro down tools

Workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers Union in the Mangaung Municipality in the Free State have downed tools‚ making a variety of demands to the metro.

The union’s provincial chairperson‚ Congo Matshepe‚ says the union will down tools until municipality management addresses the issues they have raised.

"We have given them seven days to respond on the issues we have raised. But we must also note that over and above the seven working days‚ we will look at their response and then resolve on the way forward. Our strike has been approved by the bargaining council and we will definitely go on a full blown strike until our demands are met‚" Matshepe told TimesLIVE.

He said as a union‚ they have been sent from pillar to post with regards to resolving their issues with the municipality and they have been ignored.

Among the issues raised by the union are:

- Problems with illegal termination of employment contracts of temporary workers which the union says is contrary to a legal labour forum agreement around absorption of all temporary workers who have been in the system for more than three months;

- Non implementation of the labour forum agreement;

- Temporary workers not being paid;

- Non provision of personnel protective equipment;

- Shortage of fleet and other administration resources;

- Non implementation of equal pay for workers in law enforcement division and other departments.

The union is also demanding that outsourcing and privatisation of municipal services be halted.

"The other issue is political interference of councillors. There are certain councillors who are interfering directly with the administration of the municipality and prevent instructions from being implemented from the municipality and that is something we have been raising‚" Matshepe added.

In February this year‚ Samwu workers at the same municipality downed tools over wage negotiations and outstanding overtime payments and deductions on their monthly salaries.

Efforts to attain comment from the Mangaung Municipality were unsuccessful.