Johannesburg - Tens of thousands of construction workers at
the sites of several 2010 World Cup stadiums and related building
projects in South Africa are set to down tools over pay beginning on
Wednesday, their union said Monday.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the union to which
construction workers belong, said the threatened strike by around
70,000 workers would go ahead after the Labour Court granted them the
right to strike Monday.
The stadium contractors had applied for an interdict to prevent
the action, which could threaten the completion on time of some of
the stadiums.
'The Labour Court has this morning ruled in favour of the NUM and
dismissed the case with costs. Over 70,000 construction workers will
on Wednesday down tools,' NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said in a
statement.
Five football stadiums are being built and five are being upgraded
for the World Cup, which is being held for the first time in Africa.
While there have been short strikes at individual stadiums before,
this would involve far more workers.
One new stadium in Port Elizabeth has been completed but some of
the others, like Cape Town's new 68,000-seat Greenpoint stadium, are
already operating to tight deadlines.
The action will also affect World Cup-related projects, such as a
fast train (Gautrain) being built to link Johannesburg airport and
the city's Sandton business district and a new airport in Durban.
Work on new power stations in the country will also be halted, NUM
said.
The workers are demanding a wage increase of 13 per cent; the
employers are offering 10 per cent.
'The 3 per cent is not much,' Seshoka told the German Press Agency
dpa. 'But for the poor worker earning 2,500 rand (around 318 dollars
a month), that 100 rand (the figure he put on the difference) is
much.'
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