KwaZulu-Natal horse grooms are still in limbo as they wait to hear about their demanded salary increase.
Following a massive protest on Wednesday‚ which saw close to 700 grooms picket outside the entrance to Summerveld‚ a premier horse training facility‚ a wage negotiation meeting was set to take place on Tuesday. This, however, was postponed.
This agreement for a meeting to be held‚ effectively‚ prevented a strike from affecting the Durban July‚ which was to take place just three days later.
The meeting was set to discuss the demands made by the grooms‚ which included a wage increase to R25 per hour. The trainers had offered R20 an hour for a guaranteed minimum 40-hour week - or 80 hours in a 14-day cycle - which amounted to R3‚500 per month‚ excluding any overtime.
According to the grooms’ shop steward Owen Maduna‚ the cancellation of the meeting was due to the unavailability of a labour union representative.
“We have not been told when the meeting will take place again but we have gone back to work and are no longer protesting‚” said Maduna.
The date of the new meeting has not yet been set.
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