Canaan Mdletshe

Canaan Mdletshe

Eleven members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union who are on strike at the Durban depot of the department of public works were arrested yesterday.

This amid claims that they had been intimidating non-striking employees.

Members of the union went on a strike at four major public works depots in KwaZulu-Natal three weeks ago.

Their main complaints include unpaid performance bonuses and poor working conditions.

Yesterday, a picket outside the regional depot in Mayville turned ugly when the protestors were accused of intimidating their non-striking colleagues.

Police were called in and the workers were arrested.

They were charged for intimidation, creating a threat to public property and for holding an illegal gathering.

Super Zuma, a Nehawu spokesman, denied the claims and instead accused management of playing "dirty tactics".

He said: "Clearly, they [management] are trying tricks to jeopardise the strike, but they won't succeed. We won't go down without a fight because our demands are genuine."

Fikisiwe Madlopha, a head of department in the public works department, accused Nehawu members of not complying with the provisions of the Performance Management Development System Policy, which stipulates that only eligible workers had to be paid bonuses.

She said: "We asked them to submit comprehensive assessment reports so that we could determine which employees qualified to be paid performance bonuses."

She said the department would continue holding discussions with the union.