SAMWU and COSATU in Gauteng have assessed the current strike action and also the impact of such strike on the community and the citizens of the province.

The above two organisations further assessed progress that has been registered in relation to the negotiations between parties and felt that it will be important for the current action to be suspended to afford a chance for the negotiations to proceed without any hindrance.

The strike action is therefore suspended with immediate effect for parties to further explore avenues to resolve the impasse between the two of them and in the event that there is no agreement SAMWU will invoke solidarity action of its entire membership in the Region and also explore the possibility of a secondary strike to the entire members of SAMWU in the Province.

COSATU will also on the other hand engage with all of its affiliates in the Province to explore the possibility of the secondary strike of the entire membership of the federation in support of the current strike by our members in SAMWU.

We are hoping that the JHB municipality will take this opportunity to reconsider its position and come to its senses and approach the negotiations with open arms and resolve the strike.

We also would like to state openly that this strike has nothing to do with sabotaging the ANC election as claimed by some within the ANC for reasons that are best known by them.

We wish to emphasise that this strike has all to do with ensuring that the ANC election manifesto commitments are implemented in the City Of Johannesburg without fail.

At the core of the strike are the following matters which are the key issues of the ANC 2009 and 2011 Election manifesto.

• Decent Work.
• Fighting crime and corruption.
• Building a strong and developmental local government.
• Improving service delivery in the municipality

The strike action will resume on 28 April 2011 and followed by the secondary strike on the 29 April 2011in the event that parties fail to reach an agreement.

Statement issued by SAMWU, April 21 2011

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