Hospersa general secretary Noel Desfontaines said workers were demanding a 12% salary increase. The company had offered 8.5%.
"It is ironic that Netcare, a company rated as one of the top five companies, that recently announced a 30 percent increase in earnings in the first quarter and a R1bn profit in the last financial year has the audacity to offer its workers an inflation-linked 8.5% increase," he said.
Desfontaines said workers would strike when the union obtained permission for industrial action from the relevant authorities.
Hospersa represented the majority of nurses and administration staff within the Netcare Group, he said.
- Sapa