Union members across the Province intend on embarking on a mass demonstration from today in opposition to the offered contracts.

THOUSANDS of community health workers (CHWs) employed at clinics and hospitals across the Northern Cape are expected to embark on protest action today following a dispute with the provincial Department of Health regarding employment contracts.

Dozens of CHWs and representatives from the South African Liberating Public Sector Workers Union (Salipswu) and the National Public Service Workers Union (NPSWU) gathered at the department’s offices in Kimberley yesterday, where they indicated that they would be rejecting the employment contracts that were offered to them.

This comes after the CHWs received letters from the department last week, warning that failure to sign the contracts by May 28, 2019 would result in “non-payment at the end of May, 2019, and going forward”.

However, the CHWs say that the benefits contained in the employment contracts are less than what they were previously receiving.

“The new contracts indicate a maternity benefit of four months unpaid leave, while previously a four-month paid leave benefit was offered. Also, while we were previously offered a thirteenth cheque, this has also been removed,” they stated.

NPSWU representative Thapelo Thole said that the contracts were contradictory to previous resolutions taken at a national level.

“The provincial Department of Health is just doing what they want and they are now threatening workers with non-payment of salaries on Friday. However, they cannot just change the resolutions taken last year and should consult with the bargaining council if they want to do this,” Thole said.

He added that union members across the Province intend on embarking on a mass demonstration from today in opposition to the offered contracts.

The Northern Cape Department of Health spokesperson, Lulu Mxekezo, had by close of business yesterday not responded to a media enquiry regarding the matter.

Source: http://www.dfa.co.za