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Another strike at 2010 stadium
03/04/2008 17:30 - (SA)
Gcina Ntsaluba
Nelspruit - Police had to be called in when illegal strikers intimidated workers at the Mbombela 2010 World Cup Soccer stadium in Nelspruit on Thursday morning.
The strike over wages started on Wednesday, but not all workers wanted to participate in it.
"A small group decided to go back to work on Thursday morning but they were intimidated and had stones thrown at them," said one worker, plasterer Zane Tembe.
The workers are demanding that their hourly rate of R10 be increased to R19 as was promised in February.
Project manager from Platinum Sport Consulting, Neil Fourie, confirmed that police were called to the site on Thursday.
"They started intimidating a small group that wanted to go back to work by throwing stones at them, and the police were called in," he said.
Spokesperson and chief negotiator for the National Union of Mine Workers (NUM), George Ledwaba said the workers would not return to work until their demands were met.
Ledwaba said that the workers were demanding that they get paid according to civil engineering industry rates as opposed to building industry rates.
This is the second strike this year at the stadium, the first one happened in February.
In 2007, workers also went on strike twice in November and December demanding bonuses and transport allowances.
It was agreed that the workers would get a project bonus of R2 000 each by December 14.
The remaining bonuses would be paid out as two separate milestone bonuses of R1 500 per worker, by June and December in 2009.
Another R1 000 will be paid to each worker when the stadium is completed.
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