Cosatu calls for amicable solution to Tshwane wage impasse
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, Amos Monyela, says the City of Tshwane should address the wage impasse amicably by working with unions to find a way to pay salary increases for the 2023 financial year.
This as Cosatu threatens to go on strike if the city fails to pay the salary increases.
Tshwane announced its intentions to challenge the bargaining council’s decision to immediately pay a 5.4% wage increase promised to workers in 2021.
Tshwane has cited its financial woes for not being able to pay.
The threat from Cosatu comes as the metro battles with service delivery due to the ongoing wage strike since July.
Monyela says if the city could agree to negotiate with unions on how to pay, a solution can be found.
“The City of Tshwane is completely failing to deliver services and the municipality that has squandered money last financial year and is unable to do anything when it comes to workers; this is barbaric in our view. The city should sit with the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) and see how they are going to pay. Some employers need to be honest and say, ‘we can pay you now this percentage and will pay another one later up until we conclude’…I think that’s the other solution if they honestly do not have money.”
Service delivery impact
Meanwhile, SAMWU says the City of Tshwane must pay workers and stop wasting funds on legal fees to block salary increases.
Service delivery has been greatly impacted since the start of the strike.
Last month, residents lamented a serious health crisis looming in Pretoria North after a local dumping site was capacitated due to it not being serviced.
Residents of Mabopane Block C and parts of Soshanguve have experienced frequent water and power outages since the strike started.
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Source: SABC News (sabcnews.com)
