Fed-up private security officers belonging to trade union SACSAAWU abandoned their morning shifts at the Tembisa Hospital on Tuesday photo supplied
Fed-up private security officers belonging to trade union SACSAAWU abandoned their morning shifts at the Tembisa Hospital on Tuesday and went on strike in demand of payment for the month of June.
According to SACSAAWU Secretary General Andries Diphapang Potsane, his members are sick and tired and want their salaries to be paid with immediate effect.
The striking security officers have not been employed directly by the Gauteng Department of Health but are working under a labour broker company called Jonet which has apparently failed to pay them their dues.
Addressing the striking security officers outside the Tembisa Hospital, Potsane said the following:
“Leadership, we are talking here about mere salaries, not bonuses or annual leave days; people can’t live without a salary; one cannot go to work without a salary because one has to pay for transport, and one cannot work without having food and that food must be bought with money that one gets from a salary, so we are advising all security officers who have not received their salaries countrywide that without (strike) action they won’t get their salaries.”
Potsane said: “Enough is enough and we can’t tolerate anymore a situation whereby our brothers and sisters who are security officers don’t get paid each and every month but other government employees get paid every month and one would never hear them complaining about unpaid salaries,” said Potsane.
“We are going to protest here until the salaries of our members are paid and we are saying to all security officers who work under private security companies contracted to the Department of Health and have not been paid their salaries that action speaks louder than words; that they must take action by not going to work and making sure that there are no security officers working at the entrances of the hospitals as well as in the wards, but once their salaries have been paid then they must report for duty,” enthused Potsane.
He said the strike action started with day-shift workers abandoning their posts and that the night-shift workers will also not go on duty until the said salaries were paid.