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Johannesburg - Health workers were picketing at Netcare [JSE:NTC] hospitals in four provinces on Wednesday due to dissatisfaction with a wage offer.
Picketing had started at three hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, one hospital in Gauteng, two in the Free State and one in the Eastern Cape, said Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) general secretary Noel Desfontaines.
Hospersa said it had recently declared a dispute with management of the private hospital group and although it had permission to strike, it would start with pickets.
"We have permission to strike but have opted to picket. Nurses said 'look we don't really want to inconvenience patients, let's see if picketing will help'," said Desfontaines.
Workers wanted a 12% salary increase while the company was prepared to pay 8.5%.
He said that based on the profit that Netcare had shown in its last set of results, it could have increased its offer.
In May Netcare reported a 28.4% increase in adjusted basic headline earnings per share to 42.9 cents, for the six months to the end of March this year.
However, the company said that in both the South African and UK operations, group revenue was down five% to R11.038m due to rand appreciation.
Netcare was also planning a number of expansion projects over the next three years.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, the Democratic Nursing Union and Solidarity had agreed to an 8.25% increase, according to Netcare.
Non-unionised employees received the same increase.
Netcare said Hospersa had representation with 17% of Netcare's business units across 13 hospitals nationally.
Netcare said that in addition to the 8.25% offer, there was also an increase to the minimum salary of 13% and other adjustments to certain categories of staff.
Further comment was not immediately available from Netcare.
- Sapa
Picketing had started at three hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, one hospital in Gauteng, two in the Free State and one in the Eastern Cape, said Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) general secretary Noel Desfontaines.
Hospersa said it had recently declared a dispute with management of the private hospital group and although it had permission to strike, it would start with pickets.
"We have permission to strike but have opted to picket. Nurses said 'look we don't really want to inconvenience patients, let's see if picketing will help'," said Desfontaines.
Workers wanted a 12% salary increase while the company was prepared to pay 8.5%.
He said that based on the profit that Netcare had shown in its last set of results, it could have increased its offer.
In May Netcare reported a 28.4% increase in adjusted basic headline earnings per share to 42.9 cents, for the six months to the end of March this year.
However, the company said that in both the South African and UK operations, group revenue was down five% to R11.038m due to rand appreciation.
Netcare was also planning a number of expansion projects over the next three years.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, the Democratic Nursing Union and Solidarity had agreed to an 8.25% increase, according to Netcare.
Non-unionised employees received the same increase.
Netcare said Hospersa had representation with 17% of Netcare's business units across 13 hospitals nationally.
Netcare said that in addition to the 8.25% offer, there was also an increase to the minimum salary of 13% and other adjustments to certain categories of staff.
Further comment was not immediately available from Netcare.
- Sapa
