|
WATER TALKS SET TO BURST TODAY |
|
|
|
WATER TALKS SET TO BURST TODAY
SAMWU PRESS STATEMENT
29th July 2010
Parties are set to meet today in Pretoria for crunch talks on the wage dispute that exists in the water sector. If talks fail to deliver any positive results today, SAMWU will consider calling its members out on a national strike; this would mean water supplies to Municipalities throughout the country will dry up.
Parties represented largely by SAMWU (South African Municipal Workers’ Union) and the smaller unions UASA and NEHAWU are engaged in centralised bargaining for the sector, together with the employers’ organisation SAAWU (South African Association of Water Utilities).
Negotiations are taking place under the auspices of the Amanzi Statutory Council, which covers 6000 workers in the strategically important provision of potable water for South Africa’s population. Big water boards like Rand Water and Umgeni Water are brought together with smaller water boards like Overberg in the southern Cape and Namakwa in the arid Northern Cape.
At the last round of negotiations SAAWU made an offer ranging from 8% for the highest paid to 10% for the lowest paid workers. The Unions have rejected this and are demanding 13.5% for the lowest paid and 11% for the highest paid.
In a further disturbing development, it has been discovered that SAAWU has not submitted its financial statements to the Department of Labour since 2003. It is a legal requirement that all employers’ associations submit financial statements on an annual basis. SAAWU has since been deregistered since 2007 and has not declared this to SAMWU.
This state of affairs came to light when the parties applied for the Amanzi Statutory Council to be converted into a bargaining council. A bargaining council gives the parties more rights to negotiate on terms and conditions of employment and to have these agreements extended to non-parties. These would include water boards who are not members of SAAWU or workers who are not members of any of the recognised trade unions in the sector.
Should SAAWU show no interest in resolving the dispute, the nation’s water supply will be imperilled. SAMWU calls on SAAWU to show the necessary maturity and responsibility to address the needs of water workers and to speedily put its financial house in order.
For more comment contact SAMWU’s Dale Forbes (Collective Bargaining Officer) on 084 299 6567.
Issued by;
Tahir Sema.
South African Municipal Workers' Union of COSATU.
National Media and Publicity Officer.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Office: 011-331 0333.
Cell: 0829403403.
|
Campaigns 
Worker's News April 2008 PART 1 (514)
