South Africa Labour Union Vow Strike After NLC "Chicken Out" In Nigeria

Congress of South Africa Trade Union are planning a one day strike to protest against job losses and the refusal of South African government to increase their labour wages as agreed. The South African labour union said corruption in the current administration tied to the COVID-19 palliatives.

Factors Prompting SA Labour Union Strike

The trade union said it understands that the strike would further damage the economy, but the labour union has been left no choice but to press for their demand through the one day strike which will occur on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. The workers' union and the government had agreed on 1.2 million public servants pay increases in 2018, but the government is planning to renege on the deal.

It was gathered that the 1.2 million rands increment will cost South Africa 37.8 billion rand ($2.3 billion) of additional debt. South African government's economic plan to save cost is to freeze workers pay as salaries gulp a third of the annual 1.95 trillion rand national budget - the government is eyeing 230 billion rand cut from its spending in the next two years.

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Already, government is reportedly contemplating eliminating salary raise for the next three fiscal years for state workers, a decision that the labour union also spoke against, "They have not spoken to the public sector unions, it has not been tabled,” he said, adding that, "It can’t just be announced without engaging workers in the workplace.”

COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected South African economy, pushing it into its worst recession in recent years. And in order to curb the impact of the pandemic and economy collapse on workers, $30 billion was earmarked to support businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic.

Union Unbothered About Strike Impact On Economy

However, it was gathered that the pandemic fund relief was marred by corruption involving contracts to provide protective equipment. These are factors prompting the protest, and according to the union’s general secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali, it is better to challenge the issues rather than do nothing.

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“We are quite aware that a strike in itself is damaging to the economy, but sitting down and doing nothing is not helpful because the entire economy will collapse if no action is taken,” Ntshalintshali said, adding that, "It is better to bite the bullet now and be counted amongst those who are raising crucial issues very sharply.” He told Bloomberg.

The decision by South African trade union to conduct strike comes days after its counterpart in Nigeria called off its strike which had been slated for October 1, 2020, the Independence Day of Nigeria. However, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) called off the strike hours to the protest after the government decided to suspend electricity tariff increase.

The cancellation of the election was trailed by criticism from Nigerians who were in support of the planned strike. In a report, the NLC was accused of being scared of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.