Icasa strike finally comes to an end

Johannesburg - A six-weeks long strike at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has ended.

The regulator - which oversees South Africa’s communications and telecommunications sectors - said on Monday that an agreement had been reached with disgruntled workers.

For weeks, over 100 Icasa workers were on strike as they demanded salary increases back-dated to 2015 and bonus pay from 2014.

Other demands included the reversal of human resource policies and restructuring that took place in the 2014/15 fiscal year.

But Icasa, in a statement on Monday, said that the labour action has come to an end.

“The management of Icasa has always been open to communication with staff representatives to ensure that all matters are resolved and therefore confirms that the engagements have been fruitful and led to these developments,” said Icasa.

“Icasa would like to thank all parties involved in these engagements including the mediator thereof.

“Even though there was little interruption on business operations during the time of strike, stakeholders are informed that Icasa is now operating with the full complement of staff to ensure that all South Africans have access to a wide range of communication services at affordable prices,” said Icasa.

The Icasa strike stemmed to a dispute over previous union talks.

Icasa said last month that it had previously decided on an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on revised employment conditions, but workers said the union failed to represent their mandate.

The disgruntled workers then discontinued their CWU memberships, and they went on strike at the beginning of July this year without union representation.

The striking workers, though, signed up to the National Trade Union Congress of South Africa (NTUC) earlier this month in a bid to resolve their issues with Icasa management.

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