The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) has appealed to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies to step in and resolve a wage dispute with the SABC.
The Union is threatening a full-blown wage strike at the public broadcaster that could impact the coverage of the upcoming general elections.
The parties have reached a stalemate after failed negotiations, with the CWU insisting on accepting the six percent offer but demanding it be backdated to April last year.
CWU’s National Bargaining Coordinator, Nathan Bowers says, “If CWU goes on strike in the next couple of days it will hamper this general elections campaign that is in full swing right now. We sympathise with the public of South Africa it is not that the workers are deliberate, but if workers are not afforded an increase over three years and then demand a backdate and they are treated like dirt by the SABC, the SABC workers have no alternative but to bring the SABC to its knees during this election campaign.”
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