Samwu supports strike

2004-09-14 18:24

Cape Town - The SA Municipal Workers Union, which claims 120 000 members, has pledged support for Thursday's public sector strike.

"We will call on our members to join, where possible, with the marches and other protest actions planned for 16 September," the union said on Tuesday.

Government intransigence towards the "fair and reasonable" demands of workers was where the blame for the strike should be laid, Samwu said.

Union members would be directly affected by the outcome of the current negotiations as their own three-year wage agreement came up for review next year.

"It is quite clear that government is laying down the gauntlet to municipal workers as well.

We will not sit back with our arms folded while our comrades in the public service are under attack."

Earlier on Tuesday the Congress of SA Trade Unions proposed the strike be extended to include Monday and Tuesday next week.

Public sector union's chief negotiator Fikile Hugo told reporters in Centurion, Pretoria, after failed negotiations with the state, that Cosatu had proposed further strike action and the unions would decide shortly.

'Negotiating in bad faith'

Responding to the government saying it would have to raise taxes in order to pay the salaries demanded by unions for public servants, Cosatu president Willie Madisha said this was proof enough that the employer was negotiating in bad faith.

"They are using it as a negotiation tool, the same way they are using children and the exams to whip up emotions to serve their cause," he said.

The unions have long demanded they should be involved in the budget allocation and feel that the government has sufficient funds to meet their demands.

PSA: Cut foreign aid

Public Servants Association general manager Anton Louwrens said if the government reduced its foreign aid programme and cut its defence budget, then there would be enough money to go around.

"Do we need that when things in this country are not going well," he said referring to the foreign aid policy and newly acquired weaponry.

Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said earlier in the day that if the demands of the unions had to be met, the government would either have to raise taxes, or borrow money - neither of which the government was prepared to do.

- SAPA