JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – DA Shadow Councillor of Ward 124 Tyrell Meyers reported that the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) has been granted an interim interdict to put an end to the ongoing unprotected strike.
Employees should have reported to work on Thursday April 9, but almost two thirds of the general workers staff had not reported for duty since the strike began in March.
JRA is responsible for maintaining the City of Johannesburg’s urban road network, traffic management and calming system, as well as stormwater operations.
The strike is related to a dispute on three matters: Firstly the demand for a pay progression system, secondly an increase in travel allowances for inspectors from R4 500 to well over R8 000, and finally a single depot manager for the JRA region F.
The striking workers promised that the strike would be peaceful and that the people who opted to work would not be intimidated, however this has not been the case.
There have been numerous reports of striking workers damaging city property deliberately, and attacking fellow employees who are trying to maintain service levels. This has forced the city to look at getting security to assist employees in protecting them when patching potholes and repairing faulty traffic signals.
“The DA welcomes the interim interdict, and hopes that all employees will return to work, and that negotiations can yield a fair outcome for both residents and workers.
“We also hope that the interdict will see service delivery improve, and that workers do not embark on a go-slow as public money has already been wasted, which makes it difficult for the city to improve the lives of its residents,” Meyers said.
