Intervention in Soweto Education Crisis Could Chart Way For National Solution

 

Every so often, while on the way to the office, I would stop at the department of education’s district office, which covers Lenasia, Soweto and surrounds to ask the assembled workers why they were protesting.  I would quiz the workers about their demands. To be clear, there are times when ‘wild cat’ strikes are needed and obviously there were deeper issues under the surface that needed to be addressed. However, I always left with a deep sense of disappointment that the children were being failed.

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Posted: April 7th, 2011 | No Comments »
Filed under: Public Policy, Public Services | Tags: , , , ,

Public Service Strike: Beyond Cowboy Bargaining

We have been here before. The third major public service strike since 1994 is upon us. During the first major public service strike since democracy, in 1999, trade unions suffered a significant defeat with government’s unilateral implementation of wages. But in 2007, public service unions turned the tables on government conducting an unprecedented strike, and building an unlikely coalition with departments responsible for frontline service delivery. This resulted in the introduction of occupational specific dispensations (OSDs) that put new occupational classifications, promotions and grading systems in place.

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Posted: August 21st, 2010 | No Comments »
Filed under: Civil Society, Public Services | Tags: , ,