Soldiers threaten industrial action: report

9505

The SA Security Forces Union (Sasfu) has threatened to “mobilise” if the salaries of health and other professionals serving in the SA National Defence Force are not upped immediately.

“Military professionals will no longer be used like animals and replace public servants when they go on strike,” the union said in a statement sent to the SA Press Association yesterday.

Military doctors, engineers, technical and scarce-skills personnel serving in the SANDF covered by the occupational specific dispensation (OSD) deserved to be paid accordingly, the union said in its missive.

“We demand the government treat us as human beings and pay the OSD immediately, or we will be forced to mobilise the members of the defence force to join hands with… their counterparts in industrial action in demand of the payment of OSD and improved salaries.”

Public sector doctors across the country are currently demanding better pay and working conditions.

Among other things, they are calling for the immediate implementation of the OSD, which was supposed to take effect in July last year, and a minimum 50% increase in basic salary.

Government agreed to the OSD system after a bruising public sector strike in 2007 but has since done little to implement it, with the National Treasury saying there was not enough money to do so.

News reports have indicated that junior doctors earn as little as R8000 per month after having studied six years. Following a recent strike, Johannesburg bus drivers with three years driving experience earn R8800 while artisans will have starting salaries of R9466.

Numerous soldiers, sailors and airmen have also complained to defenceWeb in recent months that their salaries are less than what the Department of Public Service and Administration pay scales suggest they should be. The extent and reason for the discrepancies are not clear.   

Elsewhere in its statement, Sasfu also said racism and discrimination in the SA Air Force had “reached [an] unendurable situation”.

“The minister must intervene immediately as black student pilots can no longer endure discrimination, and the deployment of Zimbabwe training personnel proves not [to be] helping,” it said without providing further corroboration.

The SANDF referred questions to the defence ministry, which could not be reached for comment.

The defence force is excluded from the operation of the Labour Relations Act that governs industrial action and military personnel cannot legally strike. Those who do are generally charged with mutiny, an offence under the Military Disciplinary Code.

Meanwhile, the SABC reports the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) is set to continue its legal battle with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) today over OSD in the prisons service.

The SABC adds the Labour Court has granted the DCS an interdict preventing members of the union from disrupting its operations. In contrast to the military police and prisons personnel have a right to strike although government has declared many of their posts as “emergency services” positions, which effectively prohibits them from doing so.    

Popcru Deputy General Secretary Nathi Theledi says talks over the OSD have collapsed, and also indicated to the public broadcaster that they will fight the court interdict.

In terms of the court decision, Popcru is not allowed to prevent employees of Correctional Services from entering or leaving their work premises.

They are also not allowed to intimidate workers going about their duties and can only picket more than 200m away from Correctional Services premises. 

On Friday Popcru gave government another five days to implement the OSD. The union had initially planned to embark on protest action today but has since had a change of heart.

Union president Zizamele Cebekhulu indicated that if government doesn’t give them a final date of implementation this week, they’ll embark on a national protest.