NEHAWU has noted false media reports that the public sector unions including NEHAWU have signed an agreement with the State as an Employer that they would not strike during the Soccer World Cup tournament. The amount of lies told by some in our media fraternity is not only unprofessional and unethical but is also a recipe to distort the normal functioning of the minds of our innocent readers absolutely for no collective national gains.

NEHAWU rejects as pure lies the reports that allege that NEHAWU has signed an agreement not to strike during the world cup period. We will never sign such an agreement that denies workers their right to strike. It is now time to expose media liars by asking them to produce the alleged signed agreement – they will not be able to produce such an agreement and that will confirm that they were lying all the time.

We have explicitly said that we will never allow the world cup to be used to blackmail workers into abandoning their struggles for better wages and working conditions. The media has clearly and deliberately misrepresented the statement from the public sector unions to achieve their sinister ulterior motives.

The fact is that the Constitution of the PSCBC to which we are signatories states that  only after the conciliation process has taken place (within 21 days) and the dispute remains unresolved are unions issued with a certificate that gives them the right to strike. The unions are also expected to give the Employer seven (7) days notice
before embarking on a strike in terms of the Labour Relations Act. Therefore, technically we are unable to strike during the World Cup due to the dispute resolution time-frames as contained in the Constitution of the PSCBC and the Labour Relations Act.

NEHAWU as a worker controlled union will never betray the workers by signing any anti worker agreement with the employer and we will always get our mandate from the workers. The union prides itself of being a democratic, transformative, worker controlled organization and we are always resolute in pursuing the interests of our members.

We are not anarchists, we play it by the rules and laws governing the processes and the media ignorance due to lack of scientific research and reason will remain what it is if they are not prepared to learn from various educational environments. Our business is to advance the interests of our members and not to educate those in the media who are allergic to verifiable facts. Anyway, their (media) interests are not our members’ interests.

Issued by NEHAWU Communications Department

For further information, please contact Sizwe Pamla (NEHAWU Media
Liaison Officer) at 082 5585962/ 011 833 2902 email: