Nehawu hopes to be back at Parliament posts next week

03 December 2015 - 18:40 By Jenni Evans
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Baleka Mbete and Thandi Modise during the State of the Nation Address on February 12, 2015 at Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa. Zuma delivered his address. File photo
Baleka Mbete and Thandi Modise during the State of the Nation Address on February 12, 2015 at Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa. Zuma delivered his address. File photo
Image: Photo by Gallo Images / Foto24 / Lerato Maduna

National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) members will only be back at work on Monday, its chairperson at Parliament said.

"We are not back at work. We are coming back on Monday. We will return providing our conditions are met," said Sthembiso Tembe. Key posts at the precinct, such as at the visitors' centre, were still manned by temporary staff.

He said they had accepted a revised offer from the presiding officers - Speaker Baleka Mbete and her deputies - to end the almost month-long strike over performance bonuses. He stressed that the offer was not from management.

There are still two outstanding issues before the deal is inked by the Nehawu president Mzwandile Makhwanyiba.

- Nobody must be disciplined for participating in the strike;

- Money must not be deducted for days marked absent during the strike.

Workers would be briefed on the possible agreement at 09:00 on Friday and it could be finalised by Monday, when the workers will return.

It contains percentage calculations to work out bonuses based on performance assessment grades.

The deal proposes a sliding scale from 3.5% to 9% for bonuses for people receiving a 3 grade and up.

The issue of staff going through a re-vetting process has been noted by management but it would be dealt with at a later stage and was not included in this agreement, he said.

They downed tools on November 6 over how their performance bonuses were to be calculated. At one point, police threw stun grenades to get them to stop trying to run into the National Assembly.

In the past week, they have been locked out after some entered Parliament's committee rooms and allegedly threw food on the ground.

Source: News 24

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