Security guards in South Africa go on indefinite strike demanding payment of wages
Nearly 3,000 guards embarked on an indefinite strike on January 21 to demand the payment of their wages. Their employers claim that they are unable to pay as the government department which has contracted them has not released funds
Union vows to fight mass-layoffs by Massmart in South Africa
The layoffs are being overseen by Mitch Slape who was appointed as the CEO of Massmart in September 2019, reportedly at the behest of Walmart which acquired majority shares in the company in 2011
The crisis of South Africa’s energy company and unions’ plan to save it
Union’s solution to the crisis in Eskom is a reversal of the government’s policy of decommissioning Eskom’s power production units and outsourcing the energy requirement to private companies
NUMSA meet will decide further course of action for South Africa’s labor disputes
The leadership of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa met to discuss the various labor disputes in the country, the demands for wage hike, and the state of government-owned enterprises
“We are committed to seizing true freedom”
S’bu Zikode of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the shack dwellers’ movement of South Africa, talks about the attacks on their occupations, the nature of state response and the possibilities of resistance at a social and political level.
South African Airways strike concludes as management concedes to unions’ demands
The management has agreed to a wage hike, an education bursary for employees and to set up a task force to review contracts given to private companies. It will also defer retrenchments it had earlier announced
South African police arrests shack dwellers’ leader for protesting illegal demolitions
Melita Ngcobo, the chairperson of Abahlali baseMjondolo’s Vusimuzi branch in the Tembisa township, was assaulted and arrested while protesting the illegal demolition of shacks, which had been barred by a court
South African Airways strike set to intensify after management withdraws offer
After offering a 8% salary hike and the setting up of a team to look into private contracts, the management suddenly declared it didn’t have the funds for the former and mandate for the latter
Refugees demanding safety violently evicted from UNHCR premises in South Africa
Around 700 refugees had been camping outside the UNHCR offices in Pretoria since October 8, following a wave of xenophobic violence in the country in September
Workers from subsidiaries of South African Airways likely to join strike
Over 3,000 employees of South Africa Airways are on strike since November 15 demanding an 8% hike in salaries, the scrapping of retrenchment plans and the insourcing of employees. Workers from the airline’s subsidiaries are likely to join the strike too
South African unions call government’s Investment Summit a bluff
Trade unions argue that the summit only raises false hopes of economic revival and demanded that the government, instead, take concrete steps like doubling the corporate tax, setting capital controls and increasing public and social expenditure
Refugees demonstrating outside UNHCR violently evicted, find refuge in Cape Town church
After a spate of xenophobic violence in September, refugees in Cape Town were conducting a sit-in demonstration outside the UNHCR office when they were attacked and forced to leave on October 30
