NEHAWU statement on the march planned for 30 March 2020
25 March 2020
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] convened an urgent special National Executive Committee [NEC] yesterday afternoon via teleconference to discuss the upcoming National Day of Action.
The decision to mobilise for the national day of action was taken after government made it clear that is not willing to honour the last leg of the 2018 public wage agreement especially clause 3.3 of Resolution 1 of 2018. This act of provocation infuriated the union and subsequently led to the decision to organise a march to raise sharply our anger and discontent towards government. This became even more evident at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council [PSCBC] meeting convened yesterday where government demonstrated vividly that is not prepared to honour the agreement. At the council meeting the employer proposed that workers must fund the last leg of the increment through pay progression and capped leave.
As NEHAWU, we pride ourselves of being a caring and transformative health sector union. We fully understand the dangers associated with the Coronavirus and the need for all South Africans to act in unison to stem the tide. Indeed, we were the first to raise our hands when called upon to join forces with other stakeholders in combating the spread of the virus and the creation of awareness for both our members and our communities. However, government has been sluggish in collaborating with us and giving us critical answers that we have been asking including not convening a meeting between organised labour and the State President.
Following the announcement of the 21 days nation-wide lockdown and strict measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus the NEC took a decision to postpone the planned National Day of Action scheduled for the 30th March 2020 to a later date to be confirmed soon. In this regard, NEHAWU calls on all its members, many of whom shall be in the coal-face in the fight against the Coronavirus and COVID-19 such as nurses, morgue workers, emergency technicians, doctors, community care workers, dentists, community health workers, paramedics, laboratory personnel, Department of Employment and Labour Officials, Social Workers, Home Affairs officials, SARS and others to focus on this public health emergency.