Following failed wage negotiations between SANParks and Hospersa, the trade union and two other recognised unions have planned to go on strike on Friday 20 September.
According to SANParks, the protest actions will happen specifically in the Kruger National Park at the Paul Kruger Gate with staff from other parks encouraged to withdraw labour.
“To minimize any disruptions in the delivery of service to the guests due to the withdrawal of labour, SANParks would like to assure guests that contingency plans are in place and will be activated with immediate effect in all parks,” they said in a statement.
All other entrances to the park and other parks will remain in operation and SANParks advises guests not to cancel their bookings.
This strike comes after negotiations at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) floundered when the parties couldn’t agree on a percentage wage increase. Although employees were originally asking for an 11% increase, the Commissioner recommended 8%. SANParks said they could only offer 6.5%, according to Hospersa.
In addition, employees asked for the correct pay for Sundays and Public Holidays to be implemented.
More recently, SANParks released a statement saying that they revised their offer following the CCMA recommendation to an effective 8% but this was still rejected by the unions.
“We have done what we could in our capacity as a responsible and caring employer to give the best offer on the table and to clarify the Sunday and Holiday pay issue.
“The economic climate is not conducive to tabling these kinds of offers and we are actually much closer to each other with the unions even though they have rejected the offer.” said SANParks CEO Fundisile Mketeni.
Image source: Kruger National Park/Twitter
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