Samwu leaders must take heed of strike impact

THE decision by the SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) to embark on a national strike is of huge concern to us as ordinary residents and ratepayers

In Johannesburg we had a very negative experience recently with the Pikitup strike, during which service delivery was disrupted for weeks on end.

The demand of an 18% increase by Samwu is clearly completely devoid of all reality.

Even in the recent strikes in the well-established profit making metal industry by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), a final settlement of 10% was accepted for some workers.

Our concern is that if local government is being forced to give in to these demands, the only way it can be achieved would be to raise rates and taxes, which would have a spiralling effect on all other goods and services. The gains made by ordinary workers - including Samwu members - will be wiped out by the resulting rise in rates, electricity, water, sanitation and transport services.

The reality of past strikes has also been that workers lose a larger slice of their income through the no-work-no-pay principle - than they eventually gain through the increase granted to them in the eventual settlement. These facts are not given to workers when union leaders mobilise them to strike.

In addition, union leaders continue to receive their salaries during strikes, while workers sacrifice their incomes.

I call on Samwu's leadership not to contribute to economic volatility by making excessive wage demands - which will have a ripple effect. They should also consider the impact of strike action on the delivery of municipal services.

Mandla Mkhovu, Elands Rock