Wits workers rally in support for workers on strike

Find the Vuvuzela article on the workers' strike here.

Join the Strike Fund!

CLEANING WORKERS STRIKE FUND


WITS STAFF, SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR STRIKING CLEANING WORKERS ON OUR CAMPUS!


On Monday the 8th of August Wits cleaning staff, as part of a nationwide strike, will be demanding a living wage of R4300 a month.

The Wits Workers' Solidarity Committee supports the strike of cleaning staff, and is appealing for contributions towards a strike fund that can assist striking workers and families for incomes lost during the strike action.

A strike fund committee, consisting of democratically elected representatives of workers, staff and students has been established, which will collect all monies with transparent record-keeping, and distribute the funds to workers based on democratic and transparent principles decided on by workers themselves.


** To make a contribution to the strike fund, staff should contact Ingrid.Chunilall@wits.ac.za **

Any and all contributions are welcome. No amount is too small. Workers and their families can use every cent of assistance we can spare


* To become a volunteer to collect contributions in your building, please contact wsc.wits@gmail.com *


For more info: http://witsworkerssolidaritycommittee.blogspot.com/

wsc.wits@gmail.com

Strike: Cleaning Workers Call For Living Wage

On Monday the 8th of August Wits cleaning staff, as part of a nationwide strike, will be demanding a living wage of R4300 a month. As the Wits Workers' Solidarity Committee, we also call on the University management to issue a statement and stand in support of this demand. Our university belongs to us all.

Vuvuzela Reports: 100% Increase or Nothing

Wits' Campus Newspaper Reports on Workers' Demands

Wits cleaners will go on strike on Monday, demanding a 100% salary increase while employers are offering 8%.

Cleaners from Supercare and Carovone said they are “fighting for a living wage” of R 4 300. They said they have not received an increase since they went on strike in 2006 when they negotiated salaries of R2 031, before deductions are made.

Cleaner representative, Siyabonga Makhalani, said they are not happy with the 8%  employers are offering them. “We do not want percentages,” he said. 

Makhalani said they are also fighting against outsourced workers as other universities, like the University of Johannesburg, employ cleaners directly.  

Carovone worker, Julia Mahlosi, said: “I get about R1 800 and I am so overworked”. She said she is responsible for cleaning all the rooms on one floor of a residence building.

Cleaners said they are suffering as their salaries do not cover their expenses. Supercare worker Alina Modimolla said with six kids she cannot afford to stop working. “My child complains all the time about the low pay.”   

Speaking last Friday at a meeting of the cleaners and the Workers Solidarity Committee, PYA member Feziwe Ndwayana said: “As the ANC Youth League we are here and saying to all the workers we are in full support of the strike and will be there in numbers.  If it means we as students must mobilise at night we will do it because we’ve done it before.” 

Still proud to be Witsie? I’m not

The following letter was submitted by a member of the WWSC to the student newspaper

I’m sure you have noticed Sonke workers pruning the bushes on the lawns and Supercare workers mopping the bathroom floors. But did you know that they are not allowed to use the spaces which they spend their time and energy keeping clean?

These workers are outsourced by Wits to companies. But should we care? Should students engage with issues like outsourced workers on campus?

Workers’ issues are about justice and equality, concepts that we explore during our academic life. Outsourced workers provide key services for this institution. Not much learning could take place without them. Yet how much do we know about workers or the conditions under which they work?

Outsourced workers are subject to a number of rules on campus. My concern is with the role that the university plays in enforcing such laws. Wits recently turned the Matrix basement into a locker and dining room for Outsourced workers. This means that they are not allowed to eat or store their belongings anywhere else, even if they work at bottom end of West campus.

PIMD is the university’s department responsible for dealing with outsourced workers. A senior manager at PIMD is under investigation for allegations of racism. Workers are understandably frustrated as this process began in early November. An investigation into allegations of racism against students and staff in 2009 was resolved within 3 months. Why is the university not applying the same level of urgency when outsourced workers are involved?

There are other concerns. For example, workers are not allowed to meet collectively on campus to discuss their grievances. They are told to meet at their official places of employment. For Supercare workers, that means going to Bryanston. They should be able to meet freely and collectively at their workplace.

Should it matter that workers are not paid directly by Wits? These rules come from both Wits and Outsourced companies. As students, can we sit by and watch this happen? By not raising our voices against this treatment of workers, are we complicit? If Wits is my university, then Wits is the university of the Workers. They should be treated as an integral part of the Wits community.

As a leading intellectual institution, I would have thought that Wits would lead by example.

As students, we should call for an end to outsourcing.

It is time we hold Wits accountable.