The Buffalo City Metro in the Eastern Cape and South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) have finally reached an agreement to end the three-week long unprotected strike.
The workers have been demanding bonuses and the implementation of the job evaluation process.
The crippling strike brought municipal services to a standstill and residents faced health risks as the refuse continued to pile up.
Operations in government offices and private businesses were disrupted due to the water and electricity cuts.
Some substations were torched. It took a two-day meeting for the two parties to reach an agreement.
The Mayor’s spokesperson, Luzuko Buku explains, “We made a proposal of R10 000. They initially made a proposal of R100 000. Now we pleaded our case and the point that the municipality is financially constrained to make that amount. We have also agreed to absorb all temporary workers, starting with those temporary workers that are in funded positions and after the adjustment process of the budget, moving to the workers that are in unfunded positions. We have also agreed to pay the bonus of salary 2, starting from this month going forward.”
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