Unions to reconsider offer

Johannesburg - Union leaders will explain the finer points of the government's revised pay offer to striking public servants over the weekend, the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) said on Friday.

This followed as it realised that members' initial rejection of the offer may have been based on incomplete information, it said.

Unions were hoping to have an answer for the government on Monday.

"We only gave ourselves one day to consult our members. They rejected it initially, but now we are saying why don't we give ourselves more time," said Nehawu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla.

"It is more about 'have we done justice to consultation?'," he said.

"The situation is: if members say go back to the street, we will go back to the street, but we don't want them to come back and say you never told us about the package."

Unions believe that the initial rejection of the government's latest offer was based on media reports which focused on the 7.5% and R800 housing allowance, against their basic demands of an 8.6% increase and a R1 000 housing allowance.

Agreements to discuss medical contributions and the implementation of the minimum service level requirements were among the other points, but these were not widely reported, he said.

Pamla said that when emails came from constituencies rejecting the offer, the union had to obey the mandate of its members.

However, Nehawu felt it would be responsible to hold question and answer sessions over the weekend before making a final reply.

He said that once workers decided to go on strike, the no work, no pay policy did not seem to have an effect on them. "It's difficult to explain, but that's what they do," he said.

Meanwhile, military health workers and soldiers were still filling empty posts at 62 hospitals around the country on Friday.

Workers clustered outside some of the healthcare facilities hardest hit by the strike, but health department spokesperson Fidel Hadebe said others had started returning to their posts.

"The situation is indeed beginning to improve. People are coming back to work, but there are still areas of great concern: issues of intimidation and sabotage," said Hadebe.

At the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg, strikers gathered at the Perth Street entrance, but unlike previously did not block access.

"We are not blocking the entrances, because we don't want to intimidate anyone," said a Nehawu striker, who asked not to be named.

Special camp for matrics

Hospital spokesperson Lovey Mogapi said about 50% of the staff went on strike, but that some returned to work on Friday, just not in uniform. "People still come to the hospital, numbers in wards haven't changed. The strike hasn't stopped them (patients)," she said.

At the nearby Rahima Moosa Hospital there were only a few strikers, but the gates were locked and military staff were visible.

A security guard said he was still letting patients in, but the gates were locked to keep strikers out. The hospital spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Médecins Sans Frontières (doctors without borders) reiterated its concerns at people not getting their anti-retroviral treatments.

The children's organisation, Kidz Clinics, was upset and ashamed that the strike had left young rape victims unable to get treatment in time or the medications needed to prevent possible contraction of HIV.

In many public schools, teachers have quietly returned to work, or have worked through the strike.

However, incidents of intimidation were still being reported.

The Western Cape education department said schooling had been disrupted at 61 schools in the province. The department was focusing on ensuring that matrics at these schools were able to write their exams later in September. It was also arranging a camp from September 23 to 30 to tutor matrics, and tutoring programmes from September 5 to November.

In addition to sending out messages and flyers, pupils were asked to contact their school or education department for further details.