National Shutdown: Govt to implement ‘no work no pay’ on workers who participate

The government says it will implement a ‘no work no pay’ policy on public servants who participate in the national shutdown planned by the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) and Congress for South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday.

The protest action is aimed to fight against the economic crisis and its negative consequences on workers and the marginalised poor communities, said Cosatu, calling on members and workers in general to come out in numbers to join the strike action.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), as an affiliate of Cosatu, said it would be joining the national shutdown, while Santaco said it would not be part of the protest.

According to Cosatu, the strike has been called in terms of Section 77 Socio-Economic Protest Action, which means workers will be protected to join the strike. In terms of the law, no employer will intimidate or victimise any worker who wants to join the strike. 

But the Department of Public Service and Administration cautioned on Tuesday evening that while protest actions are protected by the Labour Relations Act, employees who fall within the essential services are prohibited from participating in these protests during working hours.

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As a result, the department has provided government departments with guidelines to apply the principle of “No Work, No Pay” to manage those public servants who intend on participating in the strike action and to put necessary contingency plans to deal with service delivery disruptions.

The principle of no work no pay will apply for absence for a full day as well as part of a working day, said the department.

In addition, Leave will be strictly managed, and no Leave will be granted unless under extreme and compelling situations.

“Government is committed to improve productivity in the Public Service whilst prioritising the fight against poverty, unemployment and improved service delivery,” said the department.