Residents once again have to bear the brunt of municipal workers’ anger with their management as members of both SAMWU (South African Municipal Workers Union) and IMATU (Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union) embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday.

As far as could be determined, it is the first time that union members from IMATU joined in mass action of this nature in Louis Trichardt.

The strike follows a deadlock in wage negotiations between the two unions and SALGA (South African Local Government Association). SALGA offered an 11,5% wage increase for the 2009/10 financial year. Although IMATU accepted the proposal, SAMWU did not and, subsequently, no agreement could be reached. Soon afterwards, the two unions indicated their intention to strike, amongst others demanding a 15% wage increase.

Although the strike got off to a violent start, with clashes between striking workers and the police elsewhere in the country, striking union members in Louis Trichardt began their strike with a relatively peaceful march through town to Council’s offices on Monday morning. Here, SAMWU and IMATU representatives handed a joint memorandum to the municipal management, outlining their demands. In the memorandum, the municipal management is accused of granting workers below-poverty-line wages for years, while corruption and maladministration reign supreme. In this regard, one striking worker remarked that he found it very unfair that councillors can approve their own salary increases, even backdating it to the beginning of a financial year, but when workers want an increase, there is apparently no money.

“People should not be angry with us. We are doing this to rectify the imbalance in salaries between workers and management,” the worker said.

Monday’s peaceful start was, however, short-lived. It was not long before union members resorted to their trademark means of voicing their frustration with a lot of singing and dancing and, of course, trashing the town’s street with rubbish. By Tuesday, the municipal parking area in Louis Trichardt resembled a dumping site. Similar scenes unfolded in Musina.

Municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi said on Wednesday that, despite the strike, the municipality was still on track with regard to delivering essential ser-vices such as water and sanitation, electricity, health and emergency services. “We’ve had no major disruptions,” Bobodi said.

In the meantime, rubbish is piling up in the town’s streets, with many residents already wondering when the strike will end. Bobodi, however, could give no indication to this effect.

The strike is taking place on a “no-work-no- pay” basis. This was made clear to the strikers last week in a letter issued by acting Makhado municipal manager Mr H Maluleke. Maluleke also warned workers employed in essential service departments that, should they join the strike, they would face disciplinary action.

“Please note that any damage to municipal property, intimidation, assault, etc. will be severely dealt with in terms of the disciplinary procedure,” Maluleke writes in the letter.