Saftu threatens 4-day strike over Gauteng outsourcing

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) is set to flex its muscles again and mobilise millions to hit the streets, this time over the outsourcing of municipal workers.

Workers who were members of Samwu and other trade unions had been lobbying for an end to outsourcing of jobs such as cleaners, security guards and landscapers at Gauteng local government entities since last year.

Several meetings between officals and workers produced little progress in this regard, according to the federation.

The campaign, Outsourcing Must Fall, kicked off again this year and workers have given government one more week to resolve the issue. If this demand was not met, said Saftu national organiser, Lebohang Panyeko, the federation would embark on a four-day strike.

Gauteng MPL Joe Mpisi addressed a 300-strong crowd protesting outside the Gauteng legislature yesterday, promising that worker issues would be addressed in a meeting within a week.

“We are giving them the benefit of the doubt that they will meet their commitment. They are saying they will bring all state departments and the municipalities around Gauteng to discuss the issues of outsourcing,” Mpisi said.

“We find it ironic that premier David Makhura, last year, during a Cosatu rally, said come December 2017 there would be no outsourcing of services.

“To date we are still experiencing exploitation wages and parliament is adopting a slave wage that workers must earn R20, R11 and R15 per hour. So we are rejecting that totally and will be having a discussion between the campaign and government on this matter.”

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