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The National Education Health and Allied Workers Union [NEHAWU] calls on the government of Limpopo led by Premier Chupu Mathabathe to intervene and resolve the longstanding stalemate around the payment of the 2nd and 3rd notch progressions owed to workers since 2012.

Nehawu has been engaging with government on this matter since August 2016 and at one point government agreed to pay but a month later changed their minds. Nehawu further marched and engaged in lunch hour picketing since then up until now without any success.

It is also very much unfair that only four departments have been paid these performance incentives correctly while with the rest of government departments wants to pay only a fraction of those workers who qualify. We have warned that this is a recipe for a confrontation in the workplace.

We also condemn the apartheid tactics employed by the employer to try to intimidate and beat workers into submission by utilizing the courts with a spate of court interdict against the union, its leaders and workers in general. The unleashing of security forces on workers continues to fail dismally to intimidate workers but only work to mobilize them more and more just like it failed during the apartheid era.

Lately the employer is also engaged in a attempt to sow division amongst trade union movement in the province in order to isolate Nehawu. However Nehawu remains resolute that our grievance is genuine and no amount of isolation will deter us from championing the interest of workers in this regard.

We still implore on the employer to meet the union and resolve the demands of workers and stop engaging through courts and ultimatums while ignoring the real issues on the table. It is about time that leadership in government must prevail and resolve the impasse.

Nehawu will continue to mobilize all its members to continue to join the growing picket lines in different departments. We also further appreciate the participation of our members in the department of social development national strike throughout the province. Our members will continue to intensify the strike and maintain the total shutdown in all social development offices in the province in pursuance of our demands.

Issued by NEHAWU