WUOrevolt
24th March 2006, 21:20
S Africa security staff on strike
Employers say most are paying at least the minimum wage
About 90,000 security guards in South Africa are on strike, unions say.
Unions are demanding higher wages and better working conditions including the right to use the toilet without being charged with deserting a position.
Negotiators say the planned two-day strike has come after months of fruitless talks with employers.
Fewer than half are said to pay the minimum wage in the security industry which has prospered in recent years because of South Africa's crime wave.
Reports indicate a variable turn-out in different parts of the country.
Some companies in Cape Town and Pretoria reported up to 80% absenteeism rates, while companies in Johannesburg were less affected.
March
At least 10,000 striking guards marched in the streets of Pretoria to deliver a petition to the Private Security Regulatory Authority.
Unions have already delivered memorandums to government.
"We are concerned about the impact the strike is going to have on the economy but unfortunately it has come to a point that we cannot find a settlement with employers," Jackson Simon of the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union - one of several unions observing the strike - told Reuters news agency.
"We are hoping police will put contingency plans in place so that criminals don't take advantage of the strike."
Only a minority of security companies were paying less than the 1,500 rand ($250) minimum wage, industry spokesman Steve Friswel said.
"The major companies, and we represent about 80% of them, do. It's the other 20% who have been underpaid," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4837708.stm
Employers say most are paying at least the minimum wage
About 90,000 security guards in South Africa are on strike, unions say.
Unions are demanding higher wages and better working conditions including the right to use the toilet without being charged with deserting a position.
Negotiators say the planned two-day strike has come after months of fruitless talks with employers.
Fewer than half are said to pay the minimum wage in the security industry which has prospered in recent years because of South Africa's crime wave.
Reports indicate a variable turn-out in different parts of the country.
Some companies in Cape Town and Pretoria reported up to 80% absenteeism rates, while companies in Johannesburg were less affected.
March
At least 10,000 striking guards marched in the streets of Pretoria to deliver a petition to the Private Security Regulatory Authority.
Unions have already delivered memorandums to government.
"We are concerned about the impact the strike is going to have on the economy but unfortunately it has come to a point that we cannot find a settlement with employers," Jackson Simon of the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union - one of several unions observing the strike - told Reuters news agency.
"We are hoping police will put contingency plans in place so that criminals don't take advantage of the strike."
Only a minority of security companies were paying less than the 1,500 rand ($250) minimum wage, industry spokesman Steve Friswel said.
"The major companies, and we represent about 80% of them, do. It's the other 20% who have been underpaid," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4837708.stm