Cape Town firefighters intend joining Cosatu’s public servants’ wage strike: Samwu

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) says firefighters in the City of Cape Town intend to join the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in its upcoming public servants’ wage strike.

This follows a wage dispute between firefighters and City management dating back to 2010.

The matter was brought to the Labour Court, with both parties instructed to resolve their differences, however, Samwu says the City’s firefighters are still expected to work long hours without any form of compensation.

The union’s Archie Hearne says they are concerned that over 500 firefighters could be dismissed over the long-standing matter.

“The firemen say the 24 hours is long and abusive and that they don’t get remunerated or paid for the long hours, Sundays, public holidays and weekends. So there is a dispute between ourselves and the city.”

Hearne says, “They now intend to discipline all firefighters who clocked out in terms of 8 hours which is the terms of the Basic Conditions [of Employment] Act (BCEA). We will join Cosatu on 1 May with our action to address the city and a memorandum with all our demands. We also contemplate lodging a mutual interest dispute to the city.”

Cosatu mobilises strike over wages:

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