Unisa strike continues

Workers have vowed to continue their strike, despite Unisa’s decision offer outsourced security staff a R4 000 minimum wage which would be increased up to R6 500 in 2020.

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Johannesburg – Striking workers at the University of South Africa (Unisa) vowed to continue with protests until management agreed to their demands, despite a resolution tabled by the university’s council on Friday.

“The rolling mass action plan will lead towards closing of all campuses nationwide. The demand of R8 000 [salary] will from now be non-negotiable and must be paid with immediate effect, and backdated to January 2016,” the workers, the institution’s SRC, and the Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command at Unisa said in a joint statement on Friday.

The council said on Friday it resolved to offer the outsourced security staff a R4 000 minimum wage which would be increased up to R6 500 in 2020.

The council said: “Workers at the lowest levels in the employment of our contracted cleaning services will receive a R3,500 minimum wage, targeting a minimum of R5,500 in 2020 with immediate effect. Given the complexities of catering and gardening services, the University will, in conjunction with the recognised stakeholders, develop a model to address disparities for these two areas within the next month.”

On the issue of insourcing outsourced workers, the university’s council said that it was a progression agreement still being discussed until outsourcing is phased out.

Any further discussions on the tabled offer should be taken up with the university’s bargaining forum, the council said.

The strike at Unisa comes after two months of protests by workers from Pretoria’s higher education institutions who demanded more money and an end to outsourcing of services.

The protest continued on Friday as striking workers occupied the administrative building at the university’s main campus in Pretoria.

African News Agency

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