Samwu said its memorandum of demands for the strike taking place now was presented during a protest last year.
Dube-Ncube said on Monday the workers had not presented a memorandum of demands throughout the protest that started a week ago, presenting only a pay scale for the municipality of Ekurhuleni.
Siyabonga Dladla, Samwu's eThekwini regional chair, told TimesLIVE they were striking with the same grievances about salary benchmarking highlighted in their 2023 protest.
“eThekwini municipality is a metro and we believe their salaries should be competitive to that of other metros. We asked the employer to commence salary benchmarking in the memorandum we submitted during our protest on September 23 2023. Your media archives will show you, but they (eThekwini) did not respond.”
He said the union had sourced pay scales in metros in Gauteng which they have presented to eThekwini to reference before downing tools.
“That is what the municipality was supposed to do in the first place, get that information from other metros, but we’ve made it even easier for them.”
Thami Ntuli, South African Local Government Association (Salga) chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, said he met eThekwini management on Monday.
Ntuli said the striking workers were acting on “misinformation and inaccurate information” about the wage curve in Ekurhuleni.
“This is not factual. The municipalities have yet to implement the new system as it is subject to negotiations in the bargaining council.”
He said a uniform system for wage curves and a categorisation model was negotiated in the Salga bargaining council and a collective agreement was yet to be finalised.
“Therefore, the eThekwini municipality must comply with bargaining processes and cannot legally conclude any agreement at the municipal level on this matter, as categorisation and wage curves are national bargaining council competency,” he said.
“The unions cannot negotiate at the municipal level and national bargaining council level simultaneously.”
Dladla confirmed the 13 arrested workers are affiliated with the union.
TimesLIVE
13 municipal workers arrested after violent eThekwini strikes
Image: Supplied/eThekwini municipality
Thirteen municipal employees are expected to appear in the Durban magistrate's court on Wednesday after violent strikes in eThekwini.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Nqobile Gwala said the workers were arrested by Sydenham police on Monday.
“Their arrests came after a group of municipal employees gathered at the municipal offices on Electron Road. They allegedly put sand on the floor and burnt trees. They were forcing other employees out of the offices and damaged the gate,” she said.
Workers affiliated with the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) have been protesting since last Tuesday, the same day the union presented its pay scale to the office of eThekwini municipal manager Musa Mbhele.
The city got an urgent court interdict against the strike, but workers have seemingly ignored the order.
The action has been widely condemned by local and provincial government, particularly the “intimidation and violence” directed towards non-striking workers and damage to property.
The workers will face charges of contravening the interdict, damage to infrastructure and malicious damage to property.
On Monday, KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube confirmed the justice, crime prevention and security cluster had joined the efforts to combat the wildcat strike.
Gloves off as big guns arrest 'treasonous' striking eThekwini workers
Samwu said its memorandum of demands for the strike taking place now was presented during a protest last year.
Dube-Ncube said on Monday the workers had not presented a memorandum of demands throughout the protest that started a week ago, presenting only a pay scale for the municipality of Ekurhuleni.
Siyabonga Dladla, Samwu's eThekwini regional chair, told TimesLIVE they were striking with the same grievances about salary benchmarking highlighted in their 2023 protest.
“eThekwini municipality is a metro and we believe their salaries should be competitive to that of other metros. We asked the employer to commence salary benchmarking in the memorandum we submitted during our protest on September 23 2023. Your media archives will show you, but they (eThekwini) did not respond.”
He said the union had sourced pay scales in metros in Gauteng which they have presented to eThekwini to reference before downing tools.
“That is what the municipality was supposed to do in the first place, get that information from other metros, but we’ve made it even easier for them.”
Thami Ntuli, South African Local Government Association (Salga) chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, said he met eThekwini management on Monday.
Ntuli said the striking workers were acting on “misinformation and inaccurate information” about the wage curve in Ekurhuleni.
“This is not factual. The municipalities have yet to implement the new system as it is subject to negotiations in the bargaining council.”
He said a uniform system for wage curves and a categorisation model was negotiated in the Salga bargaining council and a collective agreement was yet to be finalised.
“Therefore, the eThekwini municipality must comply with bargaining processes and cannot legally conclude any agreement at the municipal level on this matter, as categorisation and wage curves are national bargaining council competency,” he said.
“The unions cannot negotiate at the municipal level and national bargaining council level simultaneously.”
Dladla confirmed the 13 arrested workers are affiliated with the union.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
eThekwini acts against workers for damaging infrastructure, as residents left without water and lights
eThekwini municipality gets interdict to stop workers causing 'mayhem'
Durban's uShaka Marine World to close as workers strike for more pay
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