DUT staff are still gathered in protest at the Steve Biko campus.
A union member who asked to remain anonymous told Berea Mail staff were protesting over mainly a wage dispute. “Our three unions, NEHAWU, TENUSA and NTEU have embarked on industrial protest action today because of a salary dispute. We have engaged with the CCMA and have revived out strike certificate so it’s a protected strike,” she said.
The staff member said all DUT staff, both academic and non academic had united in the protest. “We have been engaging with management since May last year, but they only gave us a meeting to address our issues in November 2015, when we declared a dispute but management refused to engage with us further,” the NEHAWU member explained. She added that there were other issues tabled but only a higher ranking Union member could explain further.
The staff allegedly held a peaceful lunchtime demonstration on 11 February to hand over their memorandum of grievances for the second time (after management ignored the memorandum last year).
DUT management and union officials are currently in a meeting to discuss the dispute while staff demonstrate outside and under cover due to the rain. Union officials came out of the meeting to advise protesting staff to protest peacefully and be patient while the meeting continues.
