General

Public sector strike continues.

10 Jun, 2007

The public sector strike in South Africa is now in its second week as government officials and trade unions fail to agree a pay rise for workers. There has been chaos in hospitals across the country as health workers have downed their tools in protest at the government offer of a 6.5 per cent wage increase, well below the ten per cent demanded by unions. Many schools have also been closed and there have been reports of clashes between strikers and people wanting to go to work. Independent mediators have presented a compromise offer of 7.25 per cent which is being examined by both parties prior to fresh talks on 12 June. However, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelenzima Vavi has reportedly said the offer is unlikely to end the industrial action. According to the BBC news website the union, which commands approximately 60 per cent of public sector workers, has warned of a