Time out at 2010 World Cup stadiums as strike halts work (Roundup)

Johannesburg - The construction of several 2010 World Cup football stadiums in South Africa ground to a halt on Wednesday as tens of thousands of workers began an open-ended strike over pay. Five stadiums, a new airport in the port city of Durban, the Gautrain fast train being built to link Johannesburg airport to the city's Sandton business district and new power stations are affected by the construction workers' strike, which was called by two unions. A spokesman for one of the unions, the National Union of Mineworkers, Lesiba Seshoka, said the first day had been 'very successful' and estimated 70,000 people had taken part. The action comes after wage negotiations between the building contractors and workers broke down. The workers are looking for a 13 per cent wage increase; the employers are offering 10.4 per cent. Most of the workers earn about 2,500 rand (224 dollars). The unions were due to hold fresh talks Thursday with the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, along with the World Cup local organizers and the labour minister to try to resolve the dispute. South Africa is upgrading five and building five new stadiums for the World Cup. Four of the five upgrades are already finished and one of the new stadiums - in Port Elizabeth - has also been completed. The rest are between 75 and 90 per cent completed. After a delayed start and two previous strikes by workers at the venue, Cape Town's new 68,000-seat Greenpoint stadium is already running right up against deadline. But a spokesman for the city downplayed the strike on SAfm public radio, saying the city was confident it would be completed by December 14, the deadline for the stadium handover to World Cup organizers FIFA. 'We believe that the strike will be resolved as soon as possible and remain confident that the stadiums will be completed on schedule,' the World Cup local organizing committee said in a statement. The Labour Court on Monday turned down an application by the contractors for a court interdict to prevent the strike.