Ramotshere Moiloa municipal workers strike over salary disparity

Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality workers have been on strike for past week demanding employer address salary disparity. Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality workers have been on strike for the past week, demanding their employer address a salary disparity. This followed a recent special council meeting where a job-evaluation report did not pass the test and was referred back to the Local Labour Forum. Workers have been on strike for past week The small border town has experiencing power outages since the rainy and windy weekend, which left residents in the cold and dark due to the strikes. Officials at the municipality were unable to enter their offices due to picketing workers. Talks between the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union and SA Municipal Workers Union and the council’s management did not reach consensus on Wednesday after a meeting from the morning to evening. A union representative, who did not want to be named as he was not given mandate, said: “These are longstanding issues known by management. We told them if they do not want to address them, we will force them to.” He was referring to the Government Gazette of October 2024, where Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said there should be a determination of upper limits for salaries, allowances and benefits for council members. Municipality upgraded from Grade 3 to Grade 4 The municipality was upgraded from a Grade 3 to Grade 4 this year, which affected the salary scale of municipal staff, who want backpay from the time the upgrading was implemented which, according to the documentary evidence, suggests it amounted to R110 004.29 for 199 employees. Being Grade 4 means their points are between 50.1 and 66.67, which is largely influenced by the growth of the population. According to the Government Gazette, a mayor of Ramotshere Moiloa goes home annually with a whopping R984 320. The workers are also not happy about the North West municipality’s recovery programme, which entails reducing overtime work. “There is no longer overtime work. We are also unable to sell our leave days,” said one worker. R1 million per month on overtime DA councillor Imaan Sayed Suliman said the municipality paid an average of R1 million per month on overtime. “This is a serious bone of contention as we have asked numerous times to lessen the amount used on overtime,” said Suliman. Municipal spokesperson Busi Mashwama said: “The industrial action relates to salary disparities and outstanding job-evaluation matters dating to 2016. “We are committed to engaging organised labour in good faith and working around the clock to resolve the matter. Every effort is being made to restore operations to normal and ensure effective services,” said Mashwama.