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Johannesburg - The strike planned by construction workers at 2010 World Cup stadia and Gautrain sites will proceed on a "no work no pay" basis, the SA Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec) said on Tuesday.
"Anyone who goes on strike won't get paid for those days," said spokesperson Joe Campanella in a statement.
Members of the National Union of Mineworkers in the construction sector have vowed to down tools at noon on Wednesday.
Earlier the union said in a statement that "thousands" of its members had reported their readiness for the massive industrial action.
"Members will tomorrow [Wednesday] gather at their respective construction sites in the morning and participate in protest action throughout the day."
The union accused Safcec's leaders of "lying to the nation" by saying that workers' demands were equivalent to an increase of 65% in rand terms.
The union said it wanted only a 13% increase and that it had rejected outright the employers' offer of 10.4%.
Campanella, however, told Sapa that the union had not taken into account the other aspects of the package. Demands included not only the 13% salary hike, but an annual bonus, daily allowances, paid maternity leave and a minimum wage.
"If you take all those demands into account - and not only the 13 percent wage increase - then Safcec estimates that the union is asking for a 65% increase."
The NUM also alleged in its statement that the federation would have given in to the union's demands had it been building golf courses and not stadia where "a poor man's game" is played.
"I am not aware that anyone from Safcec has said anything of the sort," Campanella responded.
While the NUM said it cared for the 2010 soccer World Cup, it could not allow its members to become "sacrificial lambs in the process", adding that its members had already built the stadia "out of goodwill".
Campanella said the federation would assess the impact of the strike as it unfolded.
The Black Construction Council said a strike was "long overdue".
"It is a shame for these Safcec-led groups to believe what labour demands is unreasonable. The construction boom was not inflation driven, so to believe workers only deserve inflation driven increases is wrong," the council's president Sam Moleshiwa said in a statement.
- Sapa