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The administrator of the Tshwane Metro Council, Mpho Nawa, strongly condemned the destructive behavior by striking Samwu members in Pretoria.
The strikers looted government headquarters, Tshwane House, on Tuesday, overturned trash cans and littered the streets.
“The right to strike is protected by the Constitution, but no one has the right to damage the municipality’s property and litter the streets. “The behavior borders on crime,” said Nawa.
“We hope the police do their job and let the culprits go to trial.”
Awie Erasmus, the FF Plus spokesperson in the Tshwane metro council, also slammed the damage done during the illegal strike. The party also demands that Samwu’s leaders accept responsibility for it.
The special local labor forum met with Tshwane’s administrators, representatives of Samwu and the Imatu trade union on Monday to discuss the implementation of a 6.25% increase, as well as the implementation of a joint standardization agreement.
The issues were raised from a previous meeting, but the matter was not settled again after Samwu’s leaders walked out of the meeting and a quorum could not be reached.
According to Erasmus, Samwu insisted on additional compensation that had not yet been paid out. The payments have to be made because the metro council’s rating has moved up from level 9 to level 10, which means that higher salaries have to be paid retrospectively.
He says that when a labor grievance arises, Samwu, like Samwu, must follow the precepts like any other trade union and may not resort to violence.
“The situation as a whole causes red lights to flicker over the city’s finances. “Where the administrators previously indicated that a payment would be made, it is now being withheld,” said Erasmus.
“The FF Plus warns the administrators to resolve the situation quickly and judiciously as this further weakens service delivery.”
