IoL *Public servants embark on indefinite strike * *Sapa, IoL, Johannesburg, 17 August 2010 *Public sector workers will embark on a full-blown, indefinite strike on Wednesday after rejecting the government's latest pay offer.
"The strike is on," South African Democratic Teachers' Union president Thobile Ntola said on Tuesday night at a briefing by Congress of South African Trade Union-affiliated unions and the Independent Labour Caucus (ILC).
"The government went on strike first by refusing to give in to the demands of the workers," he said.
"Tomorrow all public sector workers will embark on an indefinite strike until such time that the state comes to its senses."
ILC chairperson Chris Klopper said its demand of a medical subsidy, housing allowance and recognition of academic qualifications and a night-shift allowance had not been addressed since the 2007 public sector strike.
Workers are demanding an 8.6-percent wage increase and a housing allowance of R1 000.
The government has offered a seven-percent salary pay hike and R700 housing allowance - up R70 from its initial offer of R630.
Ntola said the unions expected 95 percent of the 1.3 million public sector workers to hold mass marches in all nine provinces.
Public Administration Minister Richard Baloyi would address the media on the way forward in Cape Town on Wednesday at 1pm, said his spokesperson Dumisani Nkwamba. -- Sapa
*From: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=nw20100817221431347C757138 <http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=nw20100817221431347C757138>*
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