Tshwane, Samwu reaches agreement after weeks of protests

After weeks of protest and lack of services in Tshwane, an agreement has finally been reached between the South African municipal worker’s union (Samwu) and the metro.

Samwu signed an addendum to the benchmarking collective agreement that addressed the back payment of money owed to workers by the Tshwane metro since 2018.

Over the past three weeks, discussions were deadlocked over when the money would be paid.

Previously, the Tshwane metro said its finances were in dire straits and it could not afford to pay the workers the monies owed to them.

On Thursday, the parties agreed that 2017/18 payments would be made on 26 August, and before 26 December 2020, the 2018/19 payment would be made.

“The understanding is that if we realise savings from employee verification starting on 26 August, and intensive debt collection payments might be earlier,” said Samwu regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane.

“This is not the best that we had wanted for our members but have considered material conditions.”

Workers downed tools also calling for an annual wage increase of 6.25% which was granted.

The protest saw many parts of the metro affected by electricity outages, piling waste and sewages leaks, as workers who reported for duty reported intimidation.

“It is unfortunate that we have to arrive at this point in the history of collective bargaining in Tshwane. It has never happened that our employer reneges on a signed collective agreement,” Tladinyane said.

“Members are informed that this battle was fought under difficult conditions such as Covid-19, interference by national treasury on collective bargaining, intimidation by those in leadership positions and PPE-related corruption.”

While the metro has promised that service delivery would be gradually restored, Tladinyane said the recall of workers should be done in terms of the rotation plan approved by the Covid-19 tactical committee.

This meant that teams would still operate on skeleton staff until the lockdown level was reduced.

He said there were other outstanding issues such as the salary scale of contract workers, revenue agents and the grading of TMPD officers.

Metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba said services were returning to normal.

“The teams are currently clearing up the backlog at various garden sites, starting from the inside to the outside. We urge our communities to start using the garden waste sites and refrain from dumping outside,” Bokaba said.

He said dustbin collection days remained unchanged and residents were advised to have their bins on those specific days ready for emptying.

A Re Yeng bus services resumed operations on Tuesday morning. A decision was still pending as to when the Tshwane bus service would be back on the road.

“It is expected that the Tshwane buses will be operational soon,” he said.

This article first appeared on Rekord and was republished with permission.

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