Once again the labour movement has diced with our national prestige by taking World Cup stadium workers out on strike.

Once again the labour movement has diced with our national prestige by taking World Cup stadium workers out on strike.

Cosatu and its daughter unions have been quick to blast anyone they believe threatens the success of Africa's first soccer World Cup, but the fulminating emperor has no clothes.

The biggest danger we face is that the stadiums won't be built on time. And every time the unions organise another strike that threat becomes a little more real.

Each of the construction companies building our 2010 stadiums had a contract with its workers. They and their union representatives knew the conditions they would be working under to meet the deadlines and the wages they were being offered before they took their jobs.

So it looks like extortion when the unions take the workers out on strike to demand additional bonuses and other fillips to their packages, especially when they know the tight schedule we must meet to present Fifa its stadiums on time.

But that does not seem to worry labour's fatcat union organisers who time and again risk workers' incomes and our national pride to indulge in yet another round of political point scoring.

Guys, get your act together lest South Africa gets shown a red card.