Strike turns violent
2009-07-30
Lise Beyers
SHOTS rang out in Lady Grey Street injuring two people this week when police officials stopped a rowdy group of striking municipal workers in their tracks. This came in the wake of the municipal workers’ strike which started on Monday, during which workers are demanding a 15% wage increase (opposed to an offer of 11,5%), a minimum salary of R5000 per month, and an increase in housing subsidies. On Monday morning about 200 striking workers, many armed with sticks and knobkieries, marched on the municipality headquarters in Berg River Boulevard, upturning rubbish bins on their route. On the steps of the building, they demanded to address mayor Charmaine Manuel and municipal manager Dr Sidima Kabanyane. A representative of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said that if the authorities “want to pay peanuts, then they must employ monkeys”. “While our members are battling to put food on their tables for their families, the powers that be, are living in the lap of luxury. “They have become fat cats and have no idea how their employees battle daily for existence. “By striking we are also voicing our grievances about the poor service delivery which the municipality is providing to our community.” After voicing their grievances, a memorandum was officially handed over, after which Manuel said that they would take note of the strikers’ demands. During the rest of the day, pockets of wild cat strikers continued upending rubbish bins throughout the area, turning some streets into a sea of litter. The municipality was forced to lock-down its doors to the public, after various municipal officials were locked inside their offices by striking workers. Extra security was then implemented at the entrance to the building. On Tueday morning at approximately 09:30, matters came to boiling-point in lower Lady Grey Street, when workers attempted an illegal march to the CBD. When the crowd became unruly and a police officer was struck with a knob-kierie by one of the strikers, officers retaliated by firing rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Although no property was damaged, two strikers were injured when one was struck in the head by a rubber bullet, and the other in the leg. Hereafter a small group of strikers descended upon the municipal head-quarters, damaging the security gate and holding employees hostage for a short while. Five strikers were arrested and charged with public violence, but were later released from the police cells, as the municipal manager took it upon himself to withdraw the charges against them. Strikers also threatened to attack Boishaaiers who were busy putting up decorations for this weekend’s Interschools matches at Faure Street Stadium. After this the stadium was under strict lock-down, with 24 hour security in place. In a statement, Kabanyane said that the municipality was not opposed to workers demanding a better pay. “But the negotiation to improve wages is not taking place at a local level, but rather at the national level.” On Monday an estimated 508 employees out of 1845 participated in the strike, while this figure rose to 832 employees on Tuesday, crippling service delivery across the Drakenstein. The electricity services worked on Monday, closed their doors on Tuesday, with only stand-by personnel available in case of emergencies. A private contractor was hired to do general street cleaning services, of which much of this was rubbish caused by strikers. Refuse removal services were also brought to a standstill, and according to the municipality, this service will continue in accordance with the service roster as soon as the strike is over, again causing delays for the public. Wage talks between the SA Local Government Association (Salga) and Samwu are continuing in the hope of reaching an agreement.
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