DUT suspends classes over strike
2013-02-28 11:37
Durban - The Durban University of Technology (DUT) has
suspended classes following claims of intimidation and disruptions to lectures,
the institution said on Thursday.
University spokesperson Alan Khan said the strike started on
Monday and had been peaceful at the start of the week.
He said striking staff members had "invaded"
lectures and "threatened staff and students in the library.
"For the safety of staff and students a decision was
taken to suspend the academic programme until Monday," said Khan.
Salary increase demands
Three unions - the National Education Health and Allied
Workers Union, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) of South Africa,
and the Tertiary Employees National Union of South Africa - are demanding a 13%
salary increase.
DUT is offering a 6% general wage increase and a 1.5% increase
in benefits.
Khan said that almost 70% of the institution's income was
spent on staff remuneration, which is higher than the average of 58 to 62% spent
at universities across the country.
The NTEU's chairperson for DUT, Francois van Zyl, said the
unions believed that the 6% offered by DUT was "unreasonable" given
that the average increases at university of technologies in South Africa were
between 7 and 8.5%.
He said his union had not received any reports of
intimidation and believed striking members had behaved in an exemplary manner.
Khan said the institution had about 2 500 employees, while
Van Zyl said that only 1 300 of these were permanently employed.
Van Zyl said that between 500 and 600 staff members had
taken part in the strike, while the university claimed only about 200 had
participated.
Van Zyl said he believed that the unions would settle for 9%
if this was offered by management.
- SAPA
