WATCH: Sharks Board workers down tools
The workers are demanding a minimum wage of R13 000.
SHARKS Board (KZNSB) workers have vowed to shut down operations at the Maritime Centre should the employer not meet their demands. The organisation is mandated to be a global leader in bather protection against sharks.
On Wednesday morning the workers took to the streets of uMhlanga after wage negotiations with their employer reached a deadlock. The workers are demanding a 13 per cent wage increase, while the employer is only offering an eight to 10 per cent increase.
The protests come at the peak of the sardine activity along the KZN coastline. The workers’ chief negotiator Mxolisi Cekwayo said: “We will not compromise. The minimum wage for Sharks Board workers should be R13 000. We are also demanding R1000 for danger allowance. Any person who is working at the Sharks Board for six months should automatically be made permanent.”
Also read:Shark safety gear in place as sardines approach
For danger allowance the employer is only offering R240. South African Liberating Public Sector Workers Union said the state owned company has to meet their demands or face the full might of workers.
“We have applied for a full blown strike. If our demands are not met in a week, we will down tools until they are met,” said the unions provincial chairperson Thamsanqa Gumede.
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The workers marched to the KZNSB offices on Herrwood Drive, uMhlanga, where they read out a memorandum of their demands.
After receiving the memorandum, Sharks Board CEO Mthokozisi Radebe said the matter is still being discussed.
“We will later today meet with the CCMA. However we note and acknowledge the workers’ demands,” Radebe said.
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