Dbn lifeguards 'not paid enough'

2008-02-28 13:16

Durban - Blame for drownings on eThekwini beaches should not be placed on lifeguards, the SA Municipal Workers' Union said on Thursday.

The union's branch secretary Jay Moodley was responding to media reports of drownings that had according to Moodley "placed blame on lifeguards".

He said those people should rather find out why lifeguards were no longer working on weekends.

Municipal lifeguards have been on strike for the past month.

They were demanding pay for working during weekends, which they did not get, he said.

"In fact, there is nothing in the lifeguards' conditions of service stating that they must work for free on weekends," Moodley said.

He said lifeguards and other municipal employees - including pool maintenance workers - used to get paid for weekends in the past but that this had ended in 1991.

Moodley said the union had tried many times to get the previous contracts extended, but their efforts had failed.

"The lifeguards and other workers continued to work on weekends although they had no written guarantee that they would be paid," said Moodley.

He said several meetings with eThekwini management had failed.

He said the CCMA had offered to mediate the dispute but that the municipality had allegedly rejected it.

No agreement has been reached to date and Moodley said lifeguards would stick to their Monday to Friday shift.

City manager Mike Sutcliffe was not immediately available for comment.

- SAPA