By Staff Reporter<\/p>\n
UNIONS representing workers at South Africa\u2019s public broadcaster have once again declared a labour dispute with the employer after an attempt to force the state entity\u2019s board to increase employees\u2019 wages by 10 per cent failed last week.<\/p>\n
And South Africa\u2019s metal and motor industry workers have vowed to exhibit a united force similar to that of the working class behind the 1917 Russian October Revolution and tenaciously fight the ruling African National Congress\u2019 recent attempts to strip them of their right to strike.<\/p>\n
According to media reports monitored from the Johannesburg-based Metro FM as well as Business Day<\/em> on Monday, Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (BEMAWU) spokesperson, Hannes du Buisson said they had instituted a fresh salary dispute with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), demanding a 10 per cent salary increase.<\/p>\n \u201cWe filed a new dispute on Friday, and it has been acknowledged by the SABC. We are now waiting for them to schedule a dispute resolution meeting, and we believe if they are serious in settling this dispute, they would do it in that particular meeting. If not, then of course the dispute will automatically proceed to the CMMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) again, but this time it will be under our name,\u201d du Buisson was quoted by TimesLIVE<\/em> as saying.<\/p>\n Business Day<\/em> further reported that du Buisson\u2019s announcement of the re-ignited labour dispute follows last week\u2019s failed attempt to get the SABC increase salaries, after meetings between the public broadcaster\u2019s executive and shop stewards from both BEMAWU and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) led the workers to abandon demonstrations.<\/p>\n The media reports further indicate that owing to logistical problems, CWU which represents about 1,500 members at SABC, called off the work stoppage but that a day later, BEMAWU which represents about 1,800 members at the public broadcaster, lodged a fresh dispute after the state broadcaster told the aggrieved workers that salaries would only be hiked in the coming financial year \u2013 an offer that was totally rejected by BEMAWU.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this issue is not resolved, we will issue a strike notice again, after we receive a fresh mandate from our members. Our members are adamant that we should proceed with the dispute, and they are adamant that they will strike again, if the SABC is not going to resolve this issue du Buisson declared.<\/p>\n SABC acting chief executive officer Nomsa Philiso, was also quoted confirming BEMAWU\u2019s fresh labour dispute against the state entity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t reach any agreement (last week)…what happened is that they withdrew their notice (called off the strike). But what has subsequently happened is that they\u2019ve now gone back to follow the actual correct procedure, and they have sent us a letter of the declaration of dispute, so we are now on step one, where we should have been in the first place,\u201d Philiso said.<\/p>\n She, however, said the dispute resolution meeting is not likely to take place this week as SABC\u2019s head of legal services, Sizwe Vilakazi, was shot dead on Saturday at his family\u2019s bottle store, and that the public broadcaster was making preparations for his funeral.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago is quoted as saying employees who had not reported for duty would not be paid in line with the principle of \u2018no work, no pay\u2019.<\/p>\n And during a centennial commemoration of the 1917 Russian Revolution held in Johannesburg, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) second deputy president Ruth Ntlokotse informed a not-so-amused group of workers that the ANC government\u2019s tampering with the basic labour conditions using the Department of Labour was meant to make it difficult for the workers to strike.<\/p>\n \u201cThe strike is a weapon we have, Ntolokotse said. \u201cWe must demonstrate to the Department of Labour, to the elite that we are not agreeable with what they want to do to us as workers.\u201d<\/p>\n She reminded the gathering that the Russian Revolution was a reminder that true power resides with the working class.<\/p>\n \u201cThe working class in Russia took charge of the society, the economy and the state and they transformed society in their own interests,\u201d Ntlokotse said. \u201cThe Red Centennary celebrations are a reminder of who we are as the working class, and the true power that we yield when we are united with common vision. We were united in defeating the tyranny of the white apartheid state, but the work of dismantling the economic structure of Apartheid, which is responsible for the suffering of the African majority, has yet to be completed.\u201d<\/p>\n Later the workers attending the commemoration led by NUMSA acting national spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi demonstrated their displeasure at the ANC\u2019s attempts to strip them of their strike by chorusing that they will never allow such an act.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you going to allow them to take away your right to strike?\u201d Hlubi shouted from the stage and the audience, some standing and jumping, chorused: \u201cNever\u201d.<\/p>\n The ANC government\u2019s proposed amendment to section 65 of the Labour Relations Act, number 66 of 1995 has raised concern among the country\u2019s trade unions, saying it\u2019s an attempt to limit the right to strike, a guarantee in the South African Constitution, which has been cited as an important bargaining tool for trade unions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Staff Reporter UNIONS representing workers at South Africa\u2019s public broadcaster have once again declared a labour dispute with the employer after an attempt to force the state entity\u2019s board to increase employees\u2019 wages by 10 per cent failed last week. And South Africa\u2019s metal and motor industry workers have vowed to exhibit a united […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":680,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions\/680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsdayzambia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}