SABC surprised at strike threat

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) says it is concerned after receiving strike notices from two unions.

The Broadcasting Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) and Communications Workers Union (CWU) are planning to embark on a strike on Thursday over salary increases.

The Board says the strike notice has taken it by surprise, as parties were scheduled to meet on Wednesday to try and avert the strike.

The Board has given the assurance that programmes on radio and television will continue to run normally on Thursday.

SABC spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago says, “This is a serious concern for us because the Board only started working last week and their first meeting was on the 23 October. In that meeting they spoke of stabilising the organisation financially, and to deal with staff morale.”

“They were going to give us a feedback by 1 November. It was a surprise when [even] before we could give feedback we then
get notice of a strike. We said to them [unions] you know our financial situation, can we then discuss these issues and in a structured way… reopen the negotiations,” adds Kganyago.