NUMSA embarks on a strike at University of Johannesburg
3 October 2019
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has served the management of the University of Johannesburg with a notice to strike. At the heart of the dispute is the university’s refusal to deal with these core issues:
- The University is violating the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. There are employees in the security department who are earning lower salaries than some of their colleagues, even though they do exactly the same kind of work and have the same responsibilities. This is because the grading system is unfair and we are demanding that it must be immediately overhauled.
- We demand an end to ‘harvesting’. This is a policy which is being implemented by the management of protection services. The management claims that our members must work extra hours because they claim that workers owe the university their labour. They are forced to work extra hours without getting paid. This is rampant exploitation and it must be stopped immediately!
- We demand that all workers must be on the same medical aid, with the same benefits. At the moment workers who were insourced in 2016 are not on the same medical aid plan as other staff. And to make matters worse, the university makes no contribution to their medical aid, but it contributes to the medical aid of other staff, this is totally unfair!
We have raised these and other issues with university management and they have demonstrated a total disregard for workers and their suffering. They have no interest in dealing with these crucial issues. It is truly shocking that a university that claims its core values are ‘ethical foundation’ can shamelessly abuse workers in this way.
We are calling on the management of UJ to do the right thing and negotiate an agreement which will suit all parties. UJ cannot claim to ‘serve humanity’ when it fails to uphold and respect the rights of its own employees. It is demonstrating that it is nothing more than an institution steeped in hypocrisy and workplace exploitation.
The strike begins on Friday 4th October and it is an indefinite strike.
Aluta continua!
The struggle continues!
Issued by Oupa Ralake, NUMSA JC Bez Regional Secretary, 3 October 2019
